One Last Dance
by StarCrossedSapphire
Summary: Chelsea runs away from her past, changes her last name and hides so that no one can find her. She meets a broken man in town who goes by the name of Vaughn with a deep and hidden secret, sheltered away from Chelsea. She wants to dig deep and uncover the truth but her time is running out, there is only so many places she can hide *Not an average V Cfic-Hardships and deaths included*
1. Goodbye!

**Hey Guys, here is the first chapter of One Last Dance that I'm writing :) I hope you like it and I hope it gets the same response as my last one, Strange Attraction :) So thank you for trying it out and don't forget to comment on how you think it's starting out :D Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its Characters x**

One Last Dance – Chapter one

Chelsea's P.O.V

_The sun danced delicately on the soft, rippling water as I threw a pebble in. No matter how hard I tried I could never make in bounce on the gentle waves like dad could. Looking up he winked at me before ruffling a heavy hand through my hair and skimming another pebble across the water. I frowned and sat on the floor with my arms crossed in agitation. Dad laughed before kneeling down to my level, his soft brown eyes searching mine as his mop of dark hair fluttered into his vision._

_ "It's all in the wrist Chelsea" He smiled as he opened my hand carefully and placed a smooth, black pebble into my tiny fists. "You never fail, until you stop trying"_

_I let out a short huff before standing up again and glaring at the annoying rippling of the lake. Dad nodded for me to carry on. I held my breath as I turned the pebble over in my hand before letting go. Closing my eyes I didn't want to see it sink into the water again._

_ "Chelsea look!" Dad exclaimed. I opened my eyes just in time to see the pretty black stone hop across the water in elegant little steps. I grinned widely at my accomplishment as Dad picked me and swung me onto his shoulder. Holding onto his forehead tightly, we watched the glistening autumn sun set behind the tall building of the city._

I suddenly snapped back into the real world, the street lamps flashed by as I sprinted down the quiet road. In the surrounding houses people lay asleep, dreaming of pleasant things, completely unaware of what went on in the dead of night. They had no idea.

As I reached the corner I slipped and fell, my knee catching the hard concrete below. But I didn't have the time to spare; I picked myself up and continued to run; even having time to yell pretty impressive bad language at the group of prostitutes hanging out in a cloud of illegal smelling smoke. Although I'm sure that there were equally good comebacks that could be thrown at me, considering I was being chased by druggies.

Turning around I looked back at the three men still hot on my tail. I threw my head back and laughed before taking a sharp left onto the bridge overlooking the mouth of the river leading to the sea. As I got halfway across I got stopped by a large roadwork truck which took up the whole length of the bridge. Shit.

I stopped dead. The men behind me finally came to a stop just three feet away. The light was barely bright enough to make out their features. The man closest to me was tall and a little overweight, but his muscular arms evened out his body mass. The two behind him were shorter and skinnier, both their jaws clearly defined with little stubble spread over their top lips. It gave me a massive urge just to grab a razor and shave their faces manually. Either you have a moustache and name it Fred, or you don't have one at all. Not one of them things.

"Nowhere to run Miss Dawson," The chubbier man sneered. I turned to face him and winked.

"How's the wife Bob, still sleeping with your brother?" I asked raising an eyebrow before smiling smugly. His face fell and turned red before he closed the gap between us in one simple step. I hopped back and climbed onto the ledge of the bridge. His two butt lickers followed him till they were all surrounding me, again.

"Can I just say?" I asked staring at all three of them, "It's been a laugh," They all took a step closer to grab me but I held my arms out, winked, and let myself fall backwards, plummeting towards the cold water. Just before I broke the surface I saluted the three men looking over the edge of the bridge. As soon as I impacted the water I felt the icy chill stab me like knives.

Quickly opening my eyes I swam away from the point of collision and towards the other side of the docks.

"Did you see where she landed?" I heard one of the men yell. I snickered underwater, unfortunately loosing half of my oxygen at the same time. Slowly I came up for air and quietly stuck my head out of the water. It was too dark to spot anything so I just held my breath and swam in a direction which felt right.

Finally I hit something solid. Breaking the water again I looked up at the hard metal object. It was a ferry, and a big one at that. It must have been a cross-channel ferry.

"Pull up the lifeboats" A voice called from above. Suddenly the water was disturbed as a boat close by started to climb up the side of the ferry. Seizing my chance I swam quickly over towards it and clambered inside, hiding under the protective covering. No-one would suspect a thing.

As the bumpy ride finally came to a halt I peeked out from under the cover and didn't see anyone close by. Quickly hopping out I ran towards the door, opened it and slammed it behind me. That was too close. Damn it Chelsea, I thought you were cleverer than that. I turned around and caught everyone in the corridor staring at me. I smiled at them all widely before flicking my dripping hair over my shoulder and walking away,

I reached an on-board shop in no time and slid my elbows across the counter to smile at the cashier. He looked only around 17 and still had traces of acne across his jaw line,

"Hello, how may I help yo-" He stopped to look at me; my red top and light jeans were dripping with water and creating a lovely puddle underneath me.

"Midnight swimming in the pool, you should try it sometime," I winked at him. He frowned at me before running a hand through his greasy blond hair.

"We don't have a po-"

"So what've you got for sale?" I cut in smiling. He shook his head before turning around and pointing at some shelved behind him.

"Got some chocolate, mugs, pens …" He answered turning back around to face me again, now ignoring my appearance.

"Any clothes?" I asked, shaking my leg to add to the water puddle. Maybe they didn't have a pool but I was sure creating one hell of a mess. My jeans rubbed uncomfortably against the back of my thighs, what a time to get chef's arse. He returned shortly grasping a map in his hands.

"This ferry has a larger clothes section here" He pointed to a little T-shirt icon in the middle of the page, "It's just left, straight up there and then left again. You should be there," He smiled down at me before handing me the map.

"Cheers," I returned the smile before following his directions down the crimson coloured corridor. There were a few pictures on the wall, mostly of happy families galloping in a field like twats. Families were never really like that, especially not mine. I rolled my eyes just as I turned the corner and came across a large sign. 'Sea-life Shopping Centre' It read in block capitals. I walked right through security and towards the clothes isle. I didn't really care what clothes I had as long as they weren't wet. Smiling to myself I picked up a pair of denim shorts, a yellow long sleeved top and an orange jacket. Completely unlike me, I hated the colour yellow and as for the shorts, they should be burn and thrown in the ocean. But I shoved them under my arm none the less and made my way over to the changing rooms.

As I closed the curtain behind me I stripped down and replaced my old clothes with the new one's I'd acquired. Ripping the tags off them I quickly kicked my wet clothes under the clothes rack before walking out into the shop again. The closest shoes near me were a pair of bright red wellington boots; I quickly shoved them on my feet and smiled. Could I have chosen anything more retarded? I smirked before walking towards the other exit of the shop. As I passed the kids isle's I stopped at a pirate stand, on the bigger kid's head was a bright red bandana. When I was little I'd always begged my dad for on just like that to be like my idle Polly Popper. She was the main character of the story books I used to read and she wore a red bandana just like that. I snickered before whipping it off his head and replacing it on mine, now I looked completely awesome. I danced out of the shop to a little beat before reaching the stairs and grabbing the railing of it. I slid down the banister and landed just short of an old lady who took a step back in astonishment.

"Now you watch where you're going, we don't want anyone getting hurt with your messing around now do we?" She asked pointing a pale, fragile finger at me and shaking her head. I smiled at her and nodded.

"I'm sorry, I'm in a rush. I forgot that when the flares go up that you're supposed to grab your lifejackets, not go towards the rushing water coming in" I smiled sweetly before skipping off down the corridor. Her face fell as she watched me bounce off into the distance. I smiled to myself before searching the corridor for the right door. Catching the right sign I quickly walked towards it and tried the handle. Of course it was locked, what did you expect Chelsea? I growled under my breath before turning around and looking up the corridor. Just a few meters away stood a guy wearing a white shirt and black pants, now_ that_ looked like a guy of authority. I ran towards him and grabbed his arm in panic.

"Mister, Mister you've got to help me. My gran, she thinks the ship is sinking and keeps panicking, I don't know what to do, I'm afraid she's going to hurt herself" I wept to him. He nodded understandably before looking down at me.

"Where is she ma'am?" He asked, his voice a hell of a lot deeper than he looked. I pulled on his shirt to follow me as I ran back to the old lady who was making her way up the stairs.

"Gran, gran, the ship, this man is here to help you" I said looking at her with false fear in my eyes, inside I was pissing myself laughing. She turned to face him and widened her eyes.

"Is the ferry really sinking? I'm not the best of swimmers" She asked looking at him. He turned to face me and I squeezed out a tear. Slowly he took hold of her arm and looked into her eyes.

"Ma'am I'm here to help you. Do you understand?" He asked loudly, I took an unnoticeable step backwards and swiped the keys handing off a chain in his back pocket. The old women looked around confused and shook his hand off her arm.

"I can handle myself" She said before turning around and striding off. I grabbed the crewman's arm again.

"Please help her" I whimpered again. He quickly closed the gap between the two of them before talking to her again. I quietly stepped backwards until I knew for sure they were out of sight before walking back to the locked door and turning the key in the lock. It opened in one swift move and lead to a supply closet. Inside lay life jackets, spare cutlery, a broom, blankets, a few boxes and a wall full of key cards. I smiled at my accomplishment before heading over to the key cards and running my finger down the side of each one. Next to them was a light, if it shone red it meant the room was occupied but if it was green then it was vacant. My finger stopped on room 101, the nearest empty one here. Smiling I quickly took the card before leaving the room and locking the door behind me. I looked at the set of keys in my hand before sliding them across the floor till they hit the bottom of the stairs. It made it look like he had dropped them.

I walked off in the opposite direction, looking at the room numbers as I went. Soon I came to room 101 and unlocked it. Inside was pretty neat. There was a desk, a freshly made bed, a small T.V and a mirror all jammed into a little space. Beggars can't be choosers I guess. I unfolded the sheets before climbing into bed and pulling them back up to my chin. I snuggled down into the white sheets as my eyes grew heavy. I had no idea where this ship was off to. All I knew was that I couldn't stay in the city any longer, not if I valued my life.

* * *

I woke to the sound of the waves harshly lapping at the side of the ship, it was pretty damn loud. I rolled over in bed and closed my eyes, trying to force myself to go back to sleep. Even if my dreams were nightmares, it seemed a hell lot better than actual life where I was hunted down for reasons I didn't fully understand. All I knew was that it was Dad's fault, as soon as he left the country, his burden seemed to be carried on to me and so it was my responsibility to keep myself out of harm's way.

Suddenly an alarm started going off as another wave scraped along the side of the ship. Groaning I rolled out of bed and opened the door. There were a few people running down the corridor gripping their luggage close to their chests. I frowned at then, not sure what the hell was going on. Then the guy who I'd stolen keys off before ran past before stopping and back stepping a few paces to face me.

"I'm sorry Miss, but the ship was stuck by lightening in the storm, the ship's going down. I must urge you to get to the top decks as soon as possible before this tub goes under" He stated before rushing off again. The colour drained from my face as I soaked in the words. Ship, lightening, sink, deck, now. I left my door ajar before heading in the direction that everyone else seemed to be heading in. We weren't that far off the mainland right, I'm pretty sure we'd be fine. As a group of frustrated looking people barged their way past me, I was pushed to the side out of the way. They all looked pretty worried about the ship sinking; I quickly smirked to myself before taking a step closer to them.

"Near, far, wherever you are, I believe that the heart does go on" I sang as one of the women turned around to face me with anger plastered across her face. I smiled at her in return and continued my out of tune singing. "Once more you open the door, and you're here in my heart, and my heart will go on and on"

"Do you find yourself funny?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest looking at me. I nodded at her, she was around four inches taller than me and had pretty thick arms for a lady but I couldn't help myself. After all she'd barged past me and threw me aside.

"In actual fact I do" I smiled politely at her. She threw me a dirty look before unfolding her arms and holding them by her side.

"You shouldn't be so foolish in a situation of panic" She spoke fiercely, hoping to scare me off. But I just continued to smile at her as kindly as I could. When she saw that I wasn't replying she turned around and huffed to her friend about how rude people can be. I sniggered again before following them up the stairs.

As we finally reached the top deck I managed to catch up to her one last time, to her disapproval.

"Sharks to the left of me, Waves to the right here I am, stuck in the ocean with you" I sang before walking past her and towards the toilets. Hey you can't board a lifeboat with a bladder full of piss. Opening the door I locked it behind me and quickly did the deed. After feeling a hell lot better, I washed my hands and attempted to open the door. But the lock held in place and wouldn't budge. I tried to wiggle it free, kick it, slide it but in the end resorted to sitting on the lid of the bog and yelling unpleasant names at it. I had to get out of here; I didn't run away from one threatened life for another. I slammed my fists hand on the door and yelled at the top of my voice, surely someone could hear me in here. How does a ship sink after getting hit by lightning, it doesn't make sense, maybe a power cut yeah? But sinking?

I slammed my fist on the door as hard as I could 'till my bones started to ache. I was going to get out of here, I knew I was. Turning back around I scanned the small space for something to open the door with. Toilet paper? No. A scrubber thingy? No. Soap? No. Then I stared at the soap again, maybe if I got enough of it could act as a lubricant to unjam the fucking awkward lock. Placing my hand underneath the soap dispenser, I repeatedly slammed my fist on the button as the soap came pouring into my hands. When my whole palm was full I quickly poured it over the lock and rubbed as much as I could into each little crevice. I tried to pull the lock back but my hand slipped and I caught my finger on a sharp edge. Damn that fucking hurt. The blood began to pour out of my new wound just as the soap mixed with it to create a lovely slimy liquid on my hands. Suddenly there was a large groan form the metal under the ship and my little toilet room began to tilt to the side. Wiping my bloody hand onto my new shorts I quickly wrapped my hand in a load of bog paper and tried the lock again. With one foot on the sink and another securely on the floor I pulled with all my might. And luckily, with the help from the soap, the door burst open to allow a gust of the cool night air flow through my hair. Smiling to myself I stepped out of the door onto the deck which was tipping noticeably to the left. I had to hold onto the door to keep myself upright.

Looking around me I noticed that all the lifeboats had gone, not a single one left. I let go of the door and managed to slide my way over to the opposite side where all of them life boats had vanished too. They couldn't have left me, but as I looked around the place seemed deserted. Not a single person left. Swallowing a large gasp of air I made my way back inside the corridors and shouted.

"Hello" There had to be someone here, there had to be. But there was no reply. Now was the time to shit bricks Chelsea. I looked down the corridor and stumbled my way towards the closest room with its doors open. I searched the place only to come back with nothing. I did the same to the next room and the room after that until I found a storage room. Looking inside I threw all the boxes around, searching for anything I could use to help me off this damn boat. I finally came to a plastic wrapper. 'Only use in emergencies,' it read on the front, I'm pretty sure that applied here. Ripping open the protective layer I saw a string and pulled it straight away. Unfortunately I hadn't read any of the instructions so an illuminous orange inflatable suddenly inflated in my face, knocking me off balance and sending me crashing to the floor. I stared at it in rejoice before grabbing the side of it and squeezing it out of the tiny door, trying not to puncture it. When I finally managed to get it on the top deck I could make out the water spilling across the bottom half of the deck already. Shitting myself I threw the blow up raft into the water before diving onto it and paddling away from the boat with my arms stuck in the water. The rain poured down on my face as I detached a little makeshift oar from the side and began to paddle.

Soon the ship was just on the horizon but still close enough so I could see it go under. The last groaning of the metal sent shivers down my spine, or maybe that was just the icy water from the waves crashing down into my flimsy raft. I pulled in the mini oar before clambering inside the tent like covering. As the waves violently lapped underneath the raft it gave me a violent outburst of seasickness, lovely.

The sky seemed to grow darker in each second that passed, the clouds rolled over the killer waves to cast a looming shadow over my shaking body. There was no way I was going to die in this shit hole. I grabbed the oar again and shoved it in the water before frantically paddling with all I had. The waves hit me hard in the face and stung my eyes as the salt got into them. I wasn't the type to give up; I _was_ going to get out of this alive.

**And so it comes to the end of the very first chapter of 'One Last Dance', I hoped you like it and please review :) Thanks again for reading and I hope you stay tuned to find out more :D **


	2. Pink and Silver

**Hey Guys, thank you so much for the reviews, they're much appreciated. And thanks for everyone reading now as well :P So anyway here's the second chapter which I hope you'll enjoy. Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters x**

One Last Dance – Chapter 2

Chelsea's P.O.V

The sound of gulls filled the air above me as salty water sprayed my face. I slowly opened my heavy eyes and looked up; the sun was beating down above me hard and brushed across my delicate, pale skin. Rolling over, I felt the hot sand beneath me which caved under my tender touch. What the fuck? Looking around I caught sight of my discarded inflatable dingy, which wasn't really inflated anymore. Slowly I came around and focused on a large rock which sat in front of me, a thin layer of seaweed covering the tip.

"Mum, Mum, there's a girl on the beach, she looks hurt," Someone yelled. I squinted around before catching a glance of a pink haired kid running away from me, arms flailing in the air. I couldn't help but smirk even though my vision was impaired due to the salt and sand that was caught in them. I attempted to push myself up off the ground but I collapsed soon after, too weak to move. Damn I looked pathetic.

"I want to get up now" I croaked, my voice too horse to shout properly. The sound of feet dragging themselves through the sand soon filled my ears as a clammy hand scraped the hair away from my face to look at me.

"Elliot, go call your sister. Get her to bring someone to help me move her inside" A gentle voice asked as the pink haired kid ran off again. Elliot, awesome name for a nerdy kid. I tried to focus my attention on the woman stood looking over me but the salt stung my eyes and made me blink like a moron.

"It's alright, we're going to call you a doctor and get you inside as soon as my daughter, Natalie returns" She smiled before soothing my forehead. I frowned slightly before coughing up a little bit of water, disgusting. She began rubbing my back which was slightly creepy, if I had enough strength I would get up and run, run away from the pink haired people. I looked up at three shapes which were moving quickly towards me. I closed my eyes and sighed to myself, because this is all I need right now.

"Hey Natalie, Vaughn. You need to ring a doctor urgently, she seems to be coughing up water, I think her lungs might be full" The women holding my back said looking up at the two new people standing next to me. Another pink haired woman nodded before taking out her mobile and dialling a number and waiting for an answer.

"How long has she been here?" A gruff voice asked, his cold attitude putting me on edge.

"I don't know, it could have been hours" The pink haired kid, Elliot, replied, his voice getting higher towards the end. I smirked again.

"Is she … laughing?" The cool voice asked, I opened my eyes drowsily to put a face to the voice. Standing above me was a cowboy and three pink haired people. Maybe I had died, and was sent to some freaky dimension to be 'damned to hell'. The girl, Natalie, scowled before placing the phone against her chest.

"Mum, Doctor Trent said to take her to our house and he'll be round as soon as he can, before then we have to keep her breathing." She said turning back to the cowboy before glaring at him.

"You're going to have to carry her" She muttered before hanging up the phone and storming off towards the place where the beach ended. What was her problem? She sounded like a frickin' spoilt brat. Suddenly a pair of arms grabbed me and lifted me off the warm sand. He pulled me close to his chest before striding after Natalie. He caught up with her and growled.

"Why do you have to be such a dick about everything?" She asked through gritted teeth. If I could then I would roll my eyes but my eyelids were so fucking heavy that it forced me to keep them closed.

"Don't even start" He mumbled under his breath. Suddenly a strong whiff of hay washed over me as he moved his arm so it was more comfortable. She growled at him before taking a step forward to look directly at him.

"Me don't start, you're the one who's being a knob." She spat back. He took in a deep breath before replying.

"Because it's always me" His voice was on the edge of flipping, I could tell because I'd been there so many times before. Jesus, it sounded as if they were an old married couple. Damn these people had severe relationship issues. Natalie folded her arms across her chest before striding off towards a yellow roofed house. I looked up at the cowboy who held me in his arms, his jaw was clearly defined and his nose was perfectly shaped. He sensed me looking at him and so he looked down at me, his deep purple eyes connecting with mine. Weird, I'd never seen anyone with purple eyes before. The weirdest coloured eyes I'd seen was Eddie Shepherd's who was in my primary school class, his eyes were pink, poor kid. But the cowboy's eyes glinted the reflection of the Spring sun and held a mystery behind them. He frowned before changing his gaze back to the house which was now just a few paces away.

He pushed open the door as a gust of cool air hit my face. There was a quiet conversation going on in a different room but then abruptly cut off as soon as we entered. Ooh tension. The cowboy holding me walked over to a brown leather sofa and placed me down softly, who knew a tough sounding guy like him could be so soft? I closed my eyes again, damn I was tired.

"Mum, we should get pillows to elevate her head and clear her airways" The nerd kid said nervously before I heard them both walk out of the room. I assumed the cowboy and the pink haired girl were left as the tension suddenly shot up as if we were all in a lit oven. The girl coughed awkwardly before moving around the room and fiddling around with something.

"I don't want to do this anymore" She finally sighed, her voice quiet but still harsh and unwelcoming. And I thought I could be scary but this girl was off the scale, maybe with a sprinkle of an anger problem? The cowboy grunted before moving around and standing close to me, his body casting a shadow across my face.

"Don't then …" He replied, no emotion flowing through his voice. The tension was slowly killing me; it was like my own little soap playing out right in front of me. I bet he was doing the dirty and she was the one who ended up mass murdering half the town, hiding their bodies in rugs and ditching them in the canal, when all the time it turns out they're cousins and secretly in love. All they need now was me to jump up and yell surprise, triggering several heart attacks and causing an unexpected baby to pop out unannounced. I could so be a T.V writer.

"You see here we go again, it's not my fault that you can't commit to anything. All your life you've dismissed everything and now you –" She cut off in mid-sentence just as the two other people walked into the room. One of them walked over to me and pushed a pillow under my head, awkwardly shifting me so that I lay in an extremely uncomfortable position.

I opened my eyes and with all my strength I managed to push myself up on my elbows so I could lie more comfortably. I looked around at the people in the room, all of them looking at me. I shifted uncomfortably and waved awkwardly. The older pink haired lady smiled at me before walking over and stroking my arm softly.

"Hi Honey, I'm Felicia, this is my daughter Natalie and son, Elliot. Are you alright?" She asked, her voice soft and motherly. I nodded slowly before coughing again and letting another bit of water dribble out of my mouth. Eww. She patted my back as I let out another harsh cough.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and a tall man wearing a white doctor's coat walked in. He had jet black hair and bright green eyes which shone in the artificial light of the room. He was actually quite attractive, unlike me who was now half chocking and throwing up some weird water substance.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Trent" He announced before quickly walking over to me and pulling out his stethoscope. He placed the cool metal over my top on both sides of my chest and once on my back.

"Her oxygen levels have dropped; we need to prevent her from secondary drowning" He said before reaching into his bag and pulling out a little white box. I continued to cough up the disgusting watery liquid as everyone's face in the room grew pale.

"Wait … so she's drowning?" A cool voice asked confused, he asked the same question I was thinking. How could I drown on a sofa in a house? The doctor ignored him and continued to pull out a little machine with a variety of tubes attached to it.

"I'm sorry miss but this is going to feel uncomfortable," He said before taking the long tube and coming closer to me.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to open your mouth" He said looking into my eyes. I nodded before opening my mouth as wide as I could, trying not to cough as he stuck the tube down my throat. It didn't hurt parse but it was bloody uncomfortable, it felt like the time I accidently swallowed a hotdog at the football stadium when I was six. I cried for hours at the sheer shock of what had happened.

Everyone watched in horror as the yellowish liquid flowing down the tube and into the little pot attached to the motor; it was like watching something out of a horror movie.

The machine slowly came to a stop as he took it out of my mouth and placed it on the ground. He took hold of his stethoscope again before pressing it against my chest. This time he nodded and smiled.

"We will need to keep an eye on you in the next 48 hours, if any symptoms occur I will be straight round. Right now I think you need some rest" He said looking down at me. I nodded before looking at the people in the room. Elliot was looking extremely pale while Natalie and the cowboy looked at the little machine like it had just killed a baby lamb in front of them. I smirked slightly before Doctor Trent stood up and took hold of Felicia's elbow, leading her out of the room to talk to her. Elliot looked at me just before he fainted and fell to the ground. I smirked again but hid it to try and not be rude. Natalie growled before putting an arm under her brother's armpit to support him and taking him out of the room, I presumed to his bedroom.

I watched them walk out of the room before turning to the cowboy who sat in the leather chair in the corner, his eyes fixated on the weird fluid that had just come out of my lungs.

"You'd better not faint on me either" I said looking at his long silver hair and black cowboy hat. He switched his gaze to me and bore daggers into me. I wasn't really sure if he hated me or was just judging me kindly. Either way I shrugged it off.

"As if" He mumbled before leaning back and rubbing his face with his hands. His facial features just barely stuck out of his hat which covered most of his face and hair. He looked as if he had had a long day.

"So what do I call you? Or should I just continue to call you cowboy?" I asked, stretching out on the sofa so that my feet touched the end. He looked up at me from under his hat and studied me carefully, secretly judging me with his eyes.

"It's Vaughn" He muttered, not really taking an interest in me. I glared at him before rolling over and closing my eyes. Nearly drowning on a sofa really took it out of you.

Vaughn's P.O.V

I looked over at the girl lay on the sofa as she let out another air ripping snore, 43rd one. How could something so small let out a noise so fucking loud? Groaning I rubbed my head in my hands and sighed; today had been too long. As I straighten my back and stretched out on the chair I closed my eyes and took in a breath of the crisp spring air, the only upside of staying on this fucking island was the quiet alone time that was granted too me. Just then another snore came from the bandana girl which made my head turn to face her. She was lay in the most fucking uncomfortable position possible, with one arm curled around her head and the other bent on the floor. I grabbed a pillow from behind me and glared at the sleeping silhouette. When she snored again I brought the pillow up to my head and threw it at her, aiming directly for her head. When it impacted she mumbled under her breath before turning over, damn that girl was a heavy sleeper. Just then the door creaked open and Natalie walked in, her annoying pink hair reflecting too much sun into my eyes. She looked over at the other girl who now had a pillow draped across her head before turning to me and glaring. Here we go again, another bitch fight. I shouldn't be here, bitch fights were strictly for girls, which I now apparently am. I watched her as she strode across the room in long, determined footsteps as she made her way over to me.

"Listen I don't want to fight anymore" She began, whispering so not to wake bandana girl, although she could probably sleep through a fucking earthquake as her snoring already reached number 8 on the Richter Scale. I turned to face Natalie and stared into her hazel coloured eyes.

"Then don't" I replied, no emotion in my voice. I kept my face straight as I always did, people annoyed me. The only people I really needed to speak to was my customers and maybe Julia and Mirabelle, everyone else could fuck off and let me get on with my own business.

"Don't start …" She spat harshly, anyone else would have flinched but I just continued to stare at her. She sighed before sitting on the foot stool to look at me, resting her elbows on her knees.

"Vaughn, I'm calling a truce. If we keep going on like this we're going to be the death of each other … literally. Do you think we could start again on a fresh slate?" She asked, her eyes pleading with me. I'd never seen Natalie plead, it was always a 'give-me-what-I-fucking-want-or-I-will-kill-you' glare that killed the soul of pretty much everyone who was unfortunate to witness it, I was one of those lucky few.

"Do you really think that's going to work Natalie? It's been months" I replied, keeping my answers as short as I could. Her gaze changed from pleading to angry in a spilt of a second, her mood swings were really beginning to give me whiplash. Slowly I leant back in the chair and let out a little sigh, still keeping my eyes firmly on Natalie's.

"I just thought …" She began but paused before letting out a sigh and rubbing her face in her hands, messing up the front part of her pink hair.

"If we just give it another go?" She asked, looking up at me with her deep hazel eyes which reflected the little light streaming in through the crack of the curtain making them appear green. I remained quiet for a second before looking directly at her.

"Natalie …" I began but she snapped a harsh look at me. I stayed silent and looked at the cow flick that stuck out from under her headband.

"Fine" She spat before standing up and spinning around to storm out of the door. As she slammed her hand hard against the wood she paused to give me a sideways glance. I dropped my gaze to the floor before she opened the door and walked out, leaving the room with a cool presence, probably coming from me. This day just got fucking worse. I flicked my gaze momentarily towards bandana girl and watched her back gently rise and fall as she slept. Then I pulled my gaze away as soon as I realised I looked like a fucking paedo. Pushing myself up off the chair I slowly made my way out of the room and towards the front door, hopefully never setting foot in this fucking place ever again.

**So yeah, here is the end of chapter two :P I hope you liked it and please review so I know how it's going :) Thanks again for reading and stay tuned for the next update :P Ciao x **


	3. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

**Hello again people. I'm here with another Chapter for you guys :D Thanks for the review, really appreciate it :) So I hope you like this chapter, it took me quite a while to write as I kept rewriting this one but I think this one is alright :D So thanks again for reading and please review. Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters x**

One Last Dance – Chapter 3

Chelsea's P.O.V

I stretched out and yawned loudly, I'd had the weirdest dream which included water, a cowboy and a pink haired girl with fire for eyes. Shrugging in off I rolled over, but instead of feeling the comfort of my usual cream double duvet, I fell onto a hard floor. Scrunching my eyebrows together I slowly opened my eyes. The sun streamed in through the window as it rose over the mountain and brushed up against the delicate spring grass. Looking round I drank in the feature of the foreign room, the fait blue curtains and the matching rug was set under the glass coffee table which stood just inches away from my head. The floor had been faded away near the door where people had walked over it for years and the matching leather sofa's that gathered around the table. I pushed myself up off of the floor and looked around. The room appeared different to the one I fell asleep in last night, strange. I began to walk away from the sofa bed I'd just fallen out of and towards a corridor that joined onto the sitting room, there had to be a toilet around here somewhere. As I walked through the corridor I was met by four doors, all of which were shut. Groaning I pointed my finger at each of the doors.

"eeny, meeny, miny, moe …" I ended up pointing at the door to my left which had a nasty dinge at the bottom where presuming a foot had come in contact with it. As I turned around I began counting again, but halfway through the third round a door opened and a gruff voice addressed me, scaring the living crap out of me.

"Fucking monkey balls shit" I yelled … pretty loudly. As I turned around I slammed my hand hard against my mouth to stop more outbursts. I felt my cheeks burn red at my sudden fright yells, not the best way to thank someone for letting me sleep in their house. I brushed my chestnut hair out of my face to look at the prick who nearly made me crap myself. Stood in front of me was the cowboy guy, Vaughn or something. His long silver hair stood just short of his shoulders and covered most of his face, except for one of his eyes which pierced into me. The deep purple seemed to search my face with such mystery it made me feel like I was a hanging steak, dangling in front of a hungry lion.

"What do you think you're doing sneaking up on me like that, you could have put me under cardiac arrest and then where would we be?" I asked in a whispered voice, hoping to restore the peace I'd disturbed. He grunted at me before shrugging.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, his voice cool and deep. I shot him a look, clearly I wasn't welcome here.

"You tell me" I replied, keeping my voice calm. Boom, mysterious Chelsea rears her head. I expected him to reply with something equally as awesome but he just shrugged again and walked towards the sitting room. I watched him as he fell out of sight before growling and turning back to the four, wait _three_ possible doors. After many attempts of eeny, meeny, miny, moe, I sagged my shoulders and walked shamefully back into the sitting room. Vaughn stood in the kitchen, leaning against one of the counters with a glass of milk in his hand. I walked over into the kitchen and sighed before looking at the floor.

"Which door's the bathroom?" I asked, switching my gaze from the floor to him. He looked at me with a blank expression spread across his face, his amethyst eyes still searching for something behind mine.

"Why would it benefit me if I tell you where it is?" He asked, shifting his weight so that he leant against the counter with his elbows. I looked into his eyes and growled, my tone now low and deep.

"Well … I can think of one benefit" I growled under my breath, "You won't get piss all over your nice clean floor and you can keep those cowboy boots of yours dry"

He didn't change his emotion even a little bit; he just continued to stare at me. It felt as if he was secretly judging me, wondering what the hell I was. To be honest if he had any luck in finding out then he could give me a hand in figuring it out myself. I thought I knew what my life was, what I was going to accomplish and who I was. Now all of that was gone, disappeared at a drop of a hat, in just a week.

"Second door on the left" He then replied, pulling me out of my unknown trance. I gave him a sweet sarcastic smile before rolling my eyes and walking off. As I pulled open the door I shut it securely behind me and walked over to the sink where I splashed a hell of a lot of cold water onto my face. Looking in the mirror I looked at the ridiculous person staring back. She still wore that awkward red bandana that she stole from a kid's mannequin and her hair was knotted like hell. I looked like crap. Rolling my eyes I walked over to the toilet and sat down.

As a wise man once said, you do your best thinking when you're sat on the toilet … well someone must have said it at one point in their life. These people in this place had no idea who I was, I could be anyone. A rich daughter to a lord or a 'lady of the night', forced to survive on other people's rubbish. Or I could have had a normal life; one with a loving mum and dad and maybe a few siblings. I smiled at the idea, Chelsea Dawson was the old me. The new me was Chelsea Miles, yeah, that was some kick-ass name. Smiling I walked back over to the sink and washed my hands, maybe there was something I could do with my hair to stop it looking so … crap. I slowly unwrapped my bandana before looking back up at my reflection. If I was so sure that it was me looking I would have run a mile and a half. My hair suddenly exploded and frizzed from under the red material. Jesus, what had happened? Oh yeah, I drowned. Rolling my eyes I slapped my bandana back onto my head and tried to force as much hair as I could under the little material.

I walked back out of the bathroom and into the sitting room where a blond haired girl now sat. Looking over at her, her face suddenly lit up as she bounded over to me.

"Hey did you have a good night's sleep?" She asked, her voice soft and sweet. I looked at her before flicking my gaze over to the cowboy in the kitchen, he stared at the both of us curiously.

"Yeah it was … different" I smiled weakly. She rolled her eyes before leading me back to the sofa bed where I'd scattered nearly all of the covers on the floor. I looked at it before smiling awkwardly at her. They were going to think I was some kind of pig.

"I'm Julia, I know the island is really glad you're okay. We were all worried about you for a while" She grinned, showing off a set of perfectly straight, white teeth.

"Erm yeah … I'm Chelsea, Chelsea Daw … Miles. Chelsea Miles" I smiled holding out my hand to her, my new name seemed unfamiliar and foreign. Julia took my hand in hers before smiling at me again.

"Mum, Mirabelle, said it's okay for you to stay here as long as you like" Her voice seemed to have an unfamiliar emotion behind it, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. As I was so thrown into my own thought I didn't realise that we were sat in complete silence. I only broke out of my trance when a jolly looking lady walking into the room. She had short blond hair and bright blue eyes.

"Oh you're awake!" She exclaimed before rushing over to me and Julia. Her eyes seemed to light up as she looked at me, yet another unfamiliar emotion.

"Yeah, hi" I smiled before waving and clasping my hands together in my lap. She smiled at me before walking over towards Vaughn in the kitchen.

"We have a phone here, you can ring you're family if you want, I'm sure they will be worried" Julia suddenly piped up, before looking at me, her eyes connecting with mine. Dread hit the bottom of my stomach as I chocked quietly.

"I can't, they're dead" I lied, looking into Mirabelle's eyes as she came closer clutching a phone. She stopped dead in her tracks before awkwardly moving the phone behind her body, out of my view, afraid of offending me. It wasn't completely a lie, Dad might as well be dead to me, I had no more business with him.

"I'm sorry" She mumbled quietly before throwing the phone not-so-subtlety to the side.

"Don't be" I reassure her before smiling in return. The tension in the room suddenly shot up as Mirabelle and Julia shot each other unsure looks, wow, I really was a mood killer. Vaughn shifted in the background and I moved my gaze to him, he stood straight and shot me a glace filled with understanding before dropping his gaze and walking away. Julia sat back down on the sofa opposite from me and looked at me in sympathy.

"Isn't there anyone?" She asked, leaning in closer to me, Mirabelle shot her a look of 'stop-talking' but she brushed it off and turned back to me for an answer.

"Nope, no one. I guess I'm more of a lone wolf" I said, cringing at my own voice. Damn Chelsea didn't that sound awesome, and then cool Chelsea suddenly disappeared.

"Oh, well you've always got the people on this island. I'm sure you'll be welcome here, we're all like a big family" She smiled as she squeezed my hand. I smiled in return, that didn't actually sound that bad, a new life here.

"Of course you're welcome here" Mirabelle chimed in, bringing in a mug of warm milk and placing in down in front of me. I smile gratefully at her before taking a large mouthful of the soothing liquid. It burned my throat on its journey down to my stomach but in a good way. Suddenly my stomach let out a piercing growl as I replaced the mug on the counter. Mirabelle laughed before returning to the kitchen and pulling out a variety of food.

"I guess it's time to feed our guest"

* * *

I pushed my plate away in fulfillment as I place my hands against my stomach, that had to be the nicest breakfast I've had in a long, long time.

"Thanks for the food Mirabelle, you're an awesome chef" I smiled before holding in a burp which backfired and came out of my nose. Nose burps: One of the strangest things a human body is capable of.

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door that nearly made me fall of my chair.

"I'll get it" Julia smiled before hopping off towards the door. She was quiet for a moment before walking back into the room, her face pale as she looked towards her mum.

"It's Natalie" She mouthed silently, trying not to make any sound. Mirabelle shifted awkwardly before pointing towards the corridor, I'm guessing towards Vaughn since he was the only other person in the house. Julia nodded before walking back over to the door.

"I'll just be a second Natalie" She said before rushing back into the sitting room. She walked straight over to Mirabelle where they began to exchange whispered words. I frowned and strained my ears to try and pick up on what they were saying but gave up as Julia rushed off towards the corridor.

"Vaughn?" She asked as she pounded her hand against the door. There was a few seconds of silence before the squeaky hinges swung open and a cool voice met hers.

"What?" He asked, his velvet voice cool and unwelcoming. There was another silence before Julia coughed awkwardly.

"Erm Natalie's here" She replied, her voice more quiet than before. It seemed her bubbly personality had decided to commit suicide and left us with this edgy person. This girl, Natalie, must be a bigger mood killer than me! Somehow the name rang a bell, wasn't she the one with the nerdy brother? There was a sudden rise in tension, once again, before the cowboy appeared at the opening of the living room. His gaze swept over me gently before he looked at the door and his gaze narrowed. In big strides he walked over to the front door before opening it and stepping outside.

I turned to face Mirabelle and Julia who both had a worried expression spread across their face and all of a sudden I felt I was a real outsider, all these people had a life evolving around each other. Would I be rejected? It seemed that I was the largest outcast in this tightly packed community.

"… Vaughn … Listen … Prick …" The words were harsh and echoed through the house as Natalie's voice rose. Mirabelle and Julia shifted awkwardly before glancing at each other.

"Chelsea would you like a drink?" Mirabelle suddenly asked, her voice trying to overpower the swearing that came from outside. No, I didn't really want one but I thought it was best to keep everyone busy as the crossfire of insults fired outside.

" … I swear I will … Knob …" Natalie's voice rose again as a deeper one replied. I turned to Julia who was gently rocking on the spot as she bit her nails in agitation. I got up off the chair and walked over to her.

"Are you alright?" I asked, slightly worried at the colour of her face. She snapped out of her thoughts before smiling at me weakly and nodding.

"Me? Yeah I'm fine" She replied, her face not backing up her statement what so ever. I smiled at her before turning back to Mirabelle.

" … Stop … Over …" Vaughn's deep voice sudden rose and matched Natalie's, causing Julia to flinch slightly. I've never really been good at emotions so I didn't really know what to do or what to say.

Just then the door flung open on its hinges and an annoyed looking cowboy walked in. His hat was pushed back and his hair was behind his ears so both of his eyes shone through the features of his face. His eyes found mine and for a slit second I thought I saw a broken man inside but as quick as it had appeared it disappeared. He strode off toward his room and slammed his door firmly behind him, causing the house to shake. What kind of place had I washed up on?

**Dun, dun, dunn. So far we've established that Chelsea had pretty much no idea what's going on but all shall be revealed throughout the story :D Thanks again for reading and please stay tuned for the next update :) x **


	4. Turnips Over Coffee

**Hey Guys, I'm on half-term now and am really supposed to be doing homework but I find it so much more fun to write for you guys :P I guess this chapter is more of a filler as I needed to get the basic things out of the way first :) But anyway I hope you enjoy and I thank everyone for favouriting, following and reviewing :P Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters.**

One Last Dance – Chapter 4

Chelsea's P.O.V

My dad always told me to never stop trying, because you only fail when you stop. I now realise that he was one of the biggest hypocrites I've ever known. But then the good memories of him came flashing back. How he'd take me to Blackpool every year to watch the illuminations even though we never had that much money. How each birthday he'd buy me the same pink sponge cake, my favourite, as he sang 'Happy Birthday' on repeat as we took the coach down to the cemetery to visit mum. But then again, that all washed away the day _they_ came for him and ended up with second best – me.

Opening my eyes I grinned as the wind blew through my chestnut hair, the birds sang in the sky above as the sun bounced off the spring grass. It was perfect here, no stress from the life that barely existed any more. _This_ was my new life. Suddenly there was a sharp cough and a tap on my shoulder. Turning around I saw the red haired girl again, except her eyes didn't glow as red as they had last time … or maybe I'd imagined that part. They say first impressions are always important; well ours hadn't been so great.

"You're blocking up the path" She muttered, her voice harsh and low. I stared at her for a minute before stepping out of her way and waving at her warmly. This was the girl who set everyone in that animal shop on edge, of _course _I had to be polite. Not sarcastic at all. She growled before huffing and storming off down the path, well then.

"Excuse me?" I asked, felling a little as if I was being pushed around. She paused on the spot before spinning around to face me, her eyes mentally throwing darts into my face.

"Don't you think it would be nicer if that was phrased 'please could you move out of my way Chelsea?'" I asked, cocking my head to the side slightly to get a better look at her. She glared at me again with her hazel coloured eyes before huffing and moving the crate she was holding from under her arms so that it lay more comfortably there.

"I'm sorry but I don't have time to deal with you right now" She said, huffing before walking off again. I rolled my eyes before catching up with her. Hey, no one talked to Chelsea Miles like that. She groaned loudly as she saw me walking next to her.

"Can't you take a hint? I don't want to talk to you" She growled as she pushed back a strand of her pink hair. It was like a mini medusa! Just then the crates slipped out of her hand and loads of turnips went flying, raining down on both of us. I stifled a smirk as the vegetables seemed to form a smiley face on the ground, ironic. Natalie groaned before reaching down and placing the crates harshly on the floor. I roll my eyes before getting down on my knees and helping her pack the bruised turnips back in their rightful homes.

"I don't need your help" She sneered, harsh considering that I was helping her. I rolled my eyes again before picking up another sorry looking turnip.

"Yes you do" I replied as I packed the rest of the veggies away and picked up the crate closest to me. She soon followed and turned to face me before sighing and walking off towards the yellow house I vaguely remember from the day before. I smiled at my little accomplishment before following her to the back of the house where she roughly dumped her crate of vegetables.

"So is this your job then?" I asked curiously. She turned to face me and nodded, not really wanting to admit that I'd actually helped her. There was a long silence before she turned to me and sighed.

"You want to go and get some coffee?" She asked as a strand of pink hair fell into her eyes. I grinned and nodded before following her towards the diner. Chelsea, I do believe you have just made a new friend.

As we made our way towards the diner a glint caught my eye from the left. Glancing sideways I saw Vaughn leant against the animal shop with his arms folded, watching us. Rolling my eyes I ignored him before opening the door and smiled as I was hit by the aroma of freshly baked bread. Natalie walked over to a spare table before sitting down and pushing her hair back behind her ears. Smiling I took the seat opposite her and waited for Luke to walk over for our order. After ordering two cups of milky coffee I turned to face Natalie who was gazing off into the distance.

"So you been on this island long?" I asked, curious about the pink haired girl. Or maybe I was just being a nosey bugger, I mean seriously, who can't resist a bit of gossip? She turned her attention to me as her hazel eyes searched mine.

"All my life I guess" She replied, a little moody. My eyes widen as my eyebrows nearly shot of my head, really? She nodded at my unspoken question. I closed my mouth tightly in fear that I looked like a moron.

"Really? How do you … you know" I leant in and whispered, "Meet guys?"

She huffed just as Luke came over with our coffee's. To be honest I'd never really liked the taste of coffee, I was more of a tea person. Smiling I brought the steaming mug up to my lips and held in a flinch as the revolting burning sensation made its way down my throat, who could enjoy that? But Natalia drank half of it in one go before placing her mug down on the table cloth.

"You're turnips … they looked a little …" I paused, thinking of a nice word to describe the sorry looking vegetables.

"Shit" She finished the rest of the sentence for me. My eyebrows rose a little of my head at her sheer bluntness. At least she spoke her mind. I got the impression that this was the type of girl who never bitched about someone, but told them to their face. I guess it was an … interesting characteristic.

"I was going to say poorly but whatever floats your boat" I reply into my mug, quiet enough so she didn't hear me.

"It's because my brother grew them, he can't do the simplest thing right" She grumbled, slating her brother. That was the nerdy kid, I mean sure he didn't seem like the most assertive of people but I'm sure he wasn't as bad as Natalie made him out to be.

"Do you grow all of the food here?" I asked, genially curious about this island. I was so used to the busy life of the city that all of this was foreign to me. She grunted again before nodding.

"Well we used to … now I wouldn't exactly call it food" She replied with a dim tone. I burrowed my eyes together, if it was edible – I call it food. But then again everyone used to say I could eat for England.

"What?" I asked, maybe a little too bluntly as Natalie shot me a look. I couldn't quite tell what it was made up of but I think I caught a little bit of 'what-the-fuck-are-you'.

"Since that bastard of a farmer, Jack, left to marry his 'love of his life', this island has had to survive on whatever it can provide itself. Which unsurprisingly, is shit all due to the fact that none of us are farmers", she spat, like literally spat. A single drop of saliva hit my face in her rage at some guy named Jack. I wiped it off with the back of my sleeve before turning to face her.

"Haven't you tried to bring another one on the island?" I asked, it couldn't be that hard could it. Or maybe this was one of those weird cult islands where the outside world was banned from coming here. She sighed and stared at me with another one of those glances.

"It's not that simple. People know this island is failing, they don't want to come. If the worst comes to the worse then we're all going to have to move away" She mumbled before throwing back another swig of coffee. I stared at mine, wanting to drink it to not be rude but always chickening out when the hot liquid touched my lips, making me want to heave.

I let out a breath in thought. It would be a shame for this place to go to the dogs. It was actually pretty serene here, and the wildlife flourished. Then an idea flew through my head and I smirked at myself, I was a frickin' genius.

"What if someone washed up on the island and was willing to take over a farm?" I asked, raising an eyebrow to seem mysterious and just completely awesome. She paused for a second to throw me a 'are-you-for-real' look. I grin widely before pushing my coffee aside to look at her.

"You? Seriously?" She asked, looking at me up and down before smirking slightly. I kept smiling like a paedo at her and nod.

"But you're … a girl" She replied staring at me. I roll my eyes before pushing my coffee further away from me.

"Seriously? If I'm not mistaken I'm guessing you're one too? And I'm also guessing that you grow vegetables better than you're brother?" I asked. She stayed silent. Boom, Chelsea – 1, Natalie – 0. She sighed before looking at me again.

"Do you know anything about farming?" She asked, a sceptic expression plastered onto her face. I rack my brain for a second before smiling weakly.

"Erm … Maybe?" I replied. A girl growing up in the city - not many opportunities to grow vegetables. Natalie groaned before finishing the rest of her coffee and pushing it aside. She looked at me again before sighing.

"How keen are you to learn?" She asked. My grin spread wider across my face as I looked into her eyes.

"Very" I smiled as she rolled her eyes.

"Come on, I think it's time we pay Gramp a visit"

* * *

As I walked into the warm room I looked at the yellow curtains and recoiled in horror. Yellow had to be the worst colour ever. Stupid yellow, the love child of orange and white. I remembered this room; it was the one I fell asleep in after the accident. Still didn't know how I ended up in a different house when I woke up. Felicia sat at the table and smiled at me and Natalie as we walked into the room.

"Oh hello Chelsea, I'm glad to see you've made a recovery so quickly" She smiled at me. I nod before sticking my hands in my pocket and swing onto the ball of my heels. Natalie grunted before looking up at her.

"Where's Gramp?" She asked, her voice sounding extraordinarily deep all of a sudden. Felicia smiled before standing up off the dining room table and straightening the edges of the table cloth.

"He's in the back room honey, sorting through the shipping history again" She smiled warmly. Then she gave Natalie a look which I was unfamiliar with, motherly love. I guessed I had missed out on a lot. My mum had lived in Dannyhill Cemetery for the past 25 years. Died in childbirth, died because of me. Dad had always showed me photos of her, she had rosy red cheeks and bright red lips. Chestnut shoulder-length hair and bright green eyes which Dad said twinkled with happiness every single moment.

Natalie began to head back through the door and I followed shortly after. We walked through another door into a cream coloured room. An old man sat on a hard wooden stool near a large bookshelf with an old looking book split across his knee.

"Oh Natalie come over here" He spoke clearly, sounding extremely healthy for a man of his age. Natalie walked over to him and took a peek inside the book.

"I think that last week we had an increase on milk from Mirabelle which might be the start of a greater income for the whole island, we might be able to start shipping out to the other islands again" He smiled with crooked teeth. It was actually quite sad how they'd clung to this false hope for so long.

"Gramps, this is Chelsea" She spoke loudly and clearly, "She thought that she could take over the farm?"

The old man suddenly hopped up of his chair and walked over to me with a cane clutched in his hand. He smiled warmly at me before yanking my hand out of my pocket to shake it vigorously. Damn this man had a lot of energy.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Taro" He smiled before walking to the other side of the room in mere seconds. I was tired from just watching him! He picked up a little blue hat before placing it onto his head and grinning at me.

"Come on then" He winked before walking out of the room. I frowned at Natalie who ignored me and took a seat before the old man shouted at me for not following him.

I quickly caught up and by the time we were heading to the edge of the town I was already out of breath. If I wasn't afraid to admit I was extremely unhealthy then I would tell this guy to slow the hell down.

We came to a bridge and as Taro walked quickly over the unstable wooden planks I froze. My feet unable to step onto the wearing away wood. He turned around to face me and frowned.

"Well come on then" He called from the other side. But I looked at the crashing water underneath and shook my head viciously. I. Hated. Bridges.

"You're not afraid of a little water now are ya?" He called again. I shook my head and swallowed hard. Of course I wasn't, they couldn't hurt you or kill you … unless they snapped. Concrete ones, yes they were fine, wooden one's which creaked under your feet, no – couldn't do it. It might seem strange considering I jumped off a bridge while getting chased, but it's not so much the falling I hate. It's the fact that you have to walk across unstable wood.

Closing my eyes, I bit my tongue and drew in a deep breath before running across the creaking wood. I was soon next to Taro who shook his head before walking off again. I smiled at my little accomplishment before tailing him to, what looked like, a shed. He then stood back and proudly pointed at it.

"Here it is, as far as you can see. This is your new ranch, and this here" He nodded towards the shed, "This is your home"

I stood quietly, staring at the vast wasteland that stood in front of me. Weeds popped up in every direction and huge boulders were scattered around the 'field'. It looked as if it had been abandoned long ago, left to rot along with everyone on the island. I turned back to Taro and stared at him with a bewildered expression.

"So it's mine? Just like that?" I asked, not really sure how my reaction should be. He chuckled to himself before nodding.

"Seems like it doesn't it sprout?"

I stared at him in amazement before he began to walk towards the shack. That part I was still a little uneasy about, was it even habitable? He walked up to the front door before giving it a strong push to open it. Inside there was a strong smell of old wood and dust but other than that it was actually not that bad looking. I mean sure there was a gap in the window which whistled when the wind picked up and it was missing some pretty important furniture but I liked it. There was a double bed placed in the top left hand corner with a bedside table next to it. A large coffee table stood in the centre of the room with an old faded blue table cloth draped over the worn wood. A little kitchen wilted in another corner of the room and a broken door lead to a bathroom just ahead of me. One thing's for sure, if I ever needed to piss when I had company over, I guess they would have a good view. And last but not least, a single, drooping sofa sat facing the south wall. It looked broken and unloved, sitting alone for what seemed like years. I smiled at it, I WILL ADOPT YOU! Taro chuckled at me as I gazed at my new house. It was perfect and seemed quiet, I would never be found here.

I turned back to Taro to thank him but was met with nothing. He had gone. Frowning I turned back to my house, this was going to need a lot of work.

**As I said I needed to get it out of the way :P Haha, I hope you liked it so please comment :D So yeah, thanks for reading – ciao :)**

_**Fanfic 1 : 0 Homework**_

_**;)**_


	5. Watermelon Moisturiser

**Hey again. Here is Chapter 5 of One Last Dance. I know I say this every time but thank you … again :D Really appreciate everyone who reads, you guys rock. Anyways I hope you like this one, I'm throwing in a slight twist of the usual characters which will hopefully be revealed in future updates :P Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its Characters. **

One Last Dance – Chapter 5

Chelsea's P.O.V

I stood up and looked around my room in pride. I'd spent all day on my knee's scrubbing away and the determined dirt in the cracks and crevasses of my new house. There were now no spider webs hanging in the corners, no dust covers in thick layers on any furniture and I'd even managed to fix that stupid bathroom door. I looked towards my new bed, the covers fresh and washed, it seemed a bit weird sleeping in a bed that others already had but I was too tired to care, and I'd scrubbed it till my hands hurt so I guess it was alright. I happily walked over to it and collapsed into it, the sweet scent of honey and lilies filled the air as I stretched under the thick duvet. Just five minutes … then I will get back to work.

* * *

I woke by the harsh knocking at the front door. I sat up at blinked a couple times before sliding out of my comfy bed, looking at the clock hung up on the wall it read 6PM, I'd slept for two hours! Groaning I walked over to the door, whoever this was, was the single biggest knob in the world. I placed my hand on the door handle and slowly opened it. The sky had turned red as the sun slowly set behind the horizon, casting a heavenly shadow on my farm. I looked at the person stood at the door, he had illuminous blond hair which stuck out from under his blue baseball cap and he wore blue dungarees. He smiled at me before pushing his blond hair aside to reveal his deep green eyes.

"Hello, my name is mark. I heard there was a new farmer here so I wanted to come over here and thank you personally" He smiled as he held out a hand. I stared at him in bewilderment for a minute before placing my hand in his and shaking.

"Err … hi, I'm Chelsea" I replied in return. Was it normal to randomly walk to someone's house to announce their name? Must be. I smiled at him before we stood looking at each other awkwardly.

"You want to come in?" I asked, not really sure how to be neighbourly. He smiles and nods before following me into my little house. I would offer him something to eat or drink but I literally had nothing in, not had the chance to stock up yet. I walked over to my newly cleaned sofa and sat down, Mark followed.

"I would offer you something to drink but I don't have anything" I smiled at him awkwardly. He shakes his head before smiling in reply.

"No, no it's fine. I was just wondering if you needed any help, I mean I've have a lot of free time recently and I thought you could have a helping hand?" He asked while flicking his hair to the side again before smiling. I sat silently for a second, considering my options.

"Yeah that would be amazing, I mean I've not had the time to clear my field yet" I smiled before tucking a strand of hair underneath my bandana. He chuckled and pulled at his little brown vest before looking around the room.

"Looks like you've really turned this place around, I mean, Jack left it in a pretty bad shape" He said as he ran through his memories. I knitted my eyebrows together before looking into his emerald green eyes.

"So this guy … Jack, did he just pick up and leave?" I asked, curious about the previous owner. I mean I'm not one to judge but he seemed like a right git. Mark sighed before leaning back into the sofa and ruffling his hair again.

"Well sort of. He lived here for years and brought so much prosperity into these islands. But then a girl named Celia moved over and well I guess they hit it off. She had Jack wrapped around her little finger and so when she said she wanted to move back to the city, he followed her. Sold all his animals back to Mirabelle and took off. At first the island was alright, there were tons of people here but then winter came and a lot of the crops were spoilt. We've been trying to replenish this farm for many years but one of us had that special touch like Jack did. I mean we've had enough to go by over the years but it's not enough and now everyone says we won't be able to live her much longer." He paused and stared at the light blue floral paper which slightly peeled at the corners. I sat still, drinking in every single word he said. How could someone abandon a whole community for a girl? I shake my head, it's decided – I hated him.

"Then how come Taro handed over his farm without any questions about who I was? What if I was like some kind of psychopathic mass murdered?" I asked, watching the sides of his mouth twitch into a smile as he looked into my eyes.

"Well are you?" He asked, trying to supress a hidden smirk. I thought about it for a second, nah – didn't have it in me.

"Well no …" I replied as he rolled his eyes and pushed his hand through a tough of hair sticking out of his hat … yet again. If he did that one more time I would single-handedly take a pair of scissors and cut it off.

"Trust me, Taro knows his stuff" He chuckled before playfully punching my arm. I frown slightly but decide that it was better I didn't know. Whatever weird secrets this island had, I didn't want to know. All I needed to know is that I had food and a bed and everything would be alright. I yawned loudly before stretching out and placing my hands onto my stomach. Mark laughed before standing up.

"It's best I get going, see you around Chels" He laughed before heading back towards the door. I mumbled goodbye before sleepily walking over to my bed and falling straight into it, I wasn't cut out for drowning – took way too much energy out of me.

* * *

The sun pounded on my head as I stepped outside into the cool spring breeze. Turning around my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. My field seemed to be in an even worse state than I remember from yesterday. Sighing I began to treck into the centre. My theory was that if I worked from the inside out, it would seem quicker … well that was my theory. In comparison to me, this field was fucking massive! And the fallen branches and rocks didn't help either. Sighing to myself I began to pull at the strong green weeds that stuck determinedly to the ground.

After I'd pulled just 10 weeds I heard my name being called. I wiped the sweat from my brow and looked up to see Mark standing with an axe, a hammer and a weird grim reaper thing. I smiled and quickly bounced over the rocks and twigs to reach him.

"Hey Mark, you got here just in time to help me with _that_" I said, glaring at some knarred bark that I think, let me rephrase that, that I hope used to be a tree. Mark chuckled before ruffling the top of my head and handing me the grim reaper tool. I took it and stared at it like I knew what it was for before we both made our way into the middle of the field. Mark began swinging the axe at the old tree stump while I analysed the object in my hand. Erm … I guess this was for … nope, no idea. All I could think about was how much I resembled the grim reaper at this moment in time. Mark turned around to look at me slowly and raised an eyebrow.

"You gonna get to work?" He asked, smirking at me. I nod and smile before turning my back on him. Great start at being a farmer; I had no idea what I was doing. Mark chuckled behind me before rolling his eyes and walking up to me.

"Here, you use the sickle like this" He grinned before taking it out of my hands and attacking a weed with it. I watched in fascination as the green vermin died in one swift move. Mark rolled his eyes before handing it to me. I smiled at him before attacking all the plants before me.

"I am the grim reaper – feel my wrath" I mutter as I beheaded yet another weed. Mark chuckled behind me, I turn to face him and eye him cautiously.

"Are you laughing at me?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe" He replied. I rolled my eyes before punching him playfully in the arm. Then I stared at all the work he had done in comparison to me.

"How come you didn't take over the farm? You're amazing at this" I gawp as he easily swings the hammer into another rock. He chuckled again before placing it onto the ground and sitting down next to it. I copied him and breathed out a sigh of relief as soon as my tired hands rested on the cool ground.

"I guess I've never really had the right hand to grow vegetables and raise livestock. If farming was just doing this then I would have done it long ago" He winked before taking his cap of his head and ruffling his blond hair underneath. For a guy who could smack the hell out of a rock he sure did mess around with his hair a lot. There was something about him … I just couldn't place my finger on it. As he placed his cap back onto his head he made sure he pulled put two strands of hair before leaning back onto his hands.

"So what do you do around here for fun?" I asked, curious about what people actually did around here. It was obvious he didn't do this every single day.

"Mostly just hang around town I guess. And sometimes I chill on Mushroom Island, it's pretty calming over there" He smiled at me. I nodded before frowning, Mushroom Island? Sounded like some weird drug hideout, 'come on guys lets collect some shrooms over on Mushroom Island'.

"What do you work as then? If you stick on this island all the time you must have a job?" I asked, wondering how people actually earned money. It seemed that the island was a little … slow when it came to earning money.

"I guess at the minute I'm the island's forager. I mean someone has to collect some type of food, even if it is only herbs and mushrooms" He shrugged before throwing his head back and looking at the sky. Damn this island really was in bad shape, it needed a turn around and fast. Nobody could live on herbs and mushrooms, not if they wanted to stay healthy.

I stood up off the ground and battered the mud off my butt before picking up the sickle and hacking away at the weeds again. I will devour your souls, mwhahaha.

* * *

Throwing down the sickle I fell to the floor on my knees. Mark slowly lay down the axe before rolling over and lying on his back in the shade. We looked at each other and burst out in a fit of laughter. Man we were pathetic. I crawled on my hands and knees over to the ground levelled well and dunked my head into the cool water. Drinking a lot of it as I came back to surface, I only hoped that it was fresh. Falling back onto the ground I looked into the sky. The fluffy white clouds drifted across the sky and formed into shapes.

_ "Daddy look, it's a flower" I giggled as a cloud formed into the shape of a lily – my favourite flower. Dad chuckled as he wrapped his arms around me and tickled me._

_ "That one looks like your mum" He smiled as he pointed high into the sky. I looked up to where he was pointing but didn't see anything. To me it looked like a dragon. He sighed before folding his arms behind his head. I turned to look at him and frowned. He placed one of his fingers on my eyebrows and flattened them out so I no longer frowned._

_ "What was mummy like?" I asked curiously as I looked into his deep chocolate eyes. He closed his eyes for a second before pushing his hair out of his eyes to look at me._

_ "She was very, very beautiful. She had short brown hair like you and the same nose" He smiled as he poked the end of my nose. "And she was the sweetest person I've ever know …" He trailed off and looked back up at the sky before sighing._

_ "And she looks down on us every single day" He smiled as pulled me onto his stomach. I looked back up into the sky and watched the clouds sweep past, transforming into various shapes as they did. I didn't know my mum, but I had the best dad to make up for it._

A shadow loomed over me as I slowly opened my eyes. Mark looked at me with a raised eyebrow as I rolled my eyes.

"You getting up anytime soon?" He asked with a mocking tone in his voice. He held out a hand for me to grab which I took in mine and lifted myself up. That was weird; I could have sworn that his hands were way too soft for a guy who lugs a hammer around like that. Then a soft scent of watermelon washed over me which was actually quite nice. Wait, back up, did Mark … use moisturiser? I brushed it off as he handed me the heavy hammer. I look at him confused but he just smirked.

"Consider it a welcoming gift from me" He chuckled before running his hand through his hair again. That's it, where are those scissors? I took the hammer in my hand before grinning widely at him.

"Thank you so much Mark" I laughed as I pulled him into a tight hug. He chuckled as I squeezed him tight, I may not have scissors but I could give the best strangulation hugs. He coughed slightly as I let go. I laughed before picking up the hammer in my hands. My field looked as good a new. Apart from a couple of extremely large boulders, the whole field was clear of weeds, stumps and rocks. I couldn't actually thank Mark enough; if it wasn't for him then I would be dead in the middle of my field with a frickin' sickle wedged in my hand. I turned back to face Mark and smiled at him.

"Thanks for helping me, I seriously couldn't be able to do any of this without you" I laughed as I placed my new hammer into my strangely magic bag. He rolled his eyes before dusting off his hands.

"It's alright Chels" He laughed before punching my arm playfully. He looked at his watch and gawped before looking up at me.

"Err … I'm sorry but I'm going to have to rush off" He smiled at me before waving goodbye and jogging away down the path. I watched him leave and as soon as he was out of view I searched the area, I think it was best that I paid a visit to Julia and Mirabelle and thank them for letting me stay considering I still felt guilty about rushing off with Natalie and not telling them what was going on. But to be fair I didn't have any idea myself.

I began to head towards Verdure Island but stopped just as I reached the bridge. This was stupid; I lived on a secluded island with no way of traveling to town without crossing this damn bridge. I looked around to make sure there was no one around before getting on my knees and steadily crawling across the wooden bridge. As soon as I was at the other side I jumped up and dusted myself off like nothing happened. I smirked to myself, man I was an idiot. Rolling my eyes I quickly rushed over to the animal shop and took a step inside. The scent of hay suddenly filled the air as I closed the door behind me. Mirabelle was stood behind the counter and smiled at me as soon as she saw me.

"Chelsea!" She exclaimed as she rushed over towards me, "I heard about the farm, I think it's an amazing thing you are doing for everyone" She grinned as she pulled me into a hug. My eyeballs nearly burst out of my sockets as her arms crushed my ribs, and I thought my hugs were deathly. As she pulled away I smiled weakly at her as I attempted to restore some of the sir that was forced out of my lungs.

"Well I guess someone had to do it" I smiled in return before searching the room. Mirabelle chuckled and clasped her hands together before tottering off back behind the counter.

"Julia's in her room, first door on the right" She smiled warmly as she nodded towards that little corridor again. I thanked her before walking in her direction. As I walked into the corridor I met Vaughn walking out of his with a suitcase clutched in his hand. I stared at it for a second before Vaughn grunted, causing me to look into his deep purple eyes.

"Hey" I smile warmly at him. He shot me another glare before carefully walking past me and into the sitting room.

"Well hello to you to Chelsea, how are you doing this fine evening? Oh me? I'm doing fine thanks for asking Vaughn" I growled under my breath before knocking, rather hardly onto Julia's bedroom door. She opened it and smiled when she saw me standing there.

"Oh hey Chels" She grinned before stepping aside to lead me into her room. I walked in and was instantly hit by the colour pink. Illuminous pink walls, duvet and curtains. Wow – that was an eyesore, I'm surprised she didn't have permanent blindness as the sun reflected the colour all around the room.

"So I heard about that farm of yours, congrats" She squealed before jumping onto her bed, sending magazines flying in each direction. I nod and smile before taking a seat in her computer chair.

"Yeah, not got much started yet though" I smiled as I playfully flicked another magazine that lay on the dressing table. She hummed in agreement before sitting bolt-right up in bed. I turned to face her and frowned as she shot me a cunning look. She suddenly jumped up off her chair and grabbed my hand before opening her bedroom door again and rushing into the sitting room.

"Hey Mum" She called as she led me over to her. I never had a chance to sit down here, but in a way I kind of liked it. Mirabelle turned to face us and smiled as Julia leant her arms across the counter.

"Do you think that we could help Chels get started by showing her how to look after the animals?" She asked, fluttering her eyelashes and pleading like a little kid. I hold back a smirk before turning to look at Mirabelle who's face suddenly lit up.

"Of course! If we got Gannon to help with the barn I'm sure it would be ready in time for an animal to move in" She grinned as she looked through the books that lay on the counter next to an old fashioned telephone.

"Hey Vaughn, you can help Chelsea out next week can't you? Julia and I are both booked with caring duties for another two weeks" Mirabelle called over to the cowboy who stood in the kitchen. I groan under my breath quietly, did I really have to be stuck with that. But then again they were doing me a nice gesture so I sucked it up and smiled, probably too fiercely. A couple seconds later Vaughn stood with us, his black cowboy hat covering most of his face.

"Can't I trade with Julia?" He asked, his voice deep and cooling. I shot him a glare, hey, I didn't want to do this either cowboy but suck it up – I'm not that bad. Julia shook her head before turning to face him.

"I have to look after Sasha, she's sick and will only let me go near her" She explained before rolling her eyes. Family hate going on here, it was as if they were brother and sister. Vaughn turns to Mirabelle and stares at her before sighing and turning to look at me.

"Fine" He mumbled before returning back to the kitchen.

'Yes Chelsea I would love to work with you as you are the funniest person I will ever hope to meet in my little emo bubble I've got going on here' Shooting him one last glare I turn back to face Julia who motioned towards the front door.

"Let's go get some food"

**Yep … so basically that's Chapter 5. Aha, hoped you liked it and thanks again for reading. As I post this I thought you'd be interested to know that a spider has been watching me write for the past 10 minutes … I know it's plotting something. Anyways I hope you stick around for the next update which should be soon :D Au revoir.**


	6. Ebony

**Hey people. Here is Chapter 6 of One Last Dance. I hope everyone is still enjoying the story :P Thanks for reading and please review :D Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its Characters. **

One Last Dane – Chapter 6

Chelsea's P.O.V

I looked around my field and smiled to myself. So far I'd managed to plant 18 turnips, yes that's right, 18. In comparison to my field it was pathetic, but I'd recently found out that watering is harder than you would think. I mean you have to water them just right, too much and they drown, too little and the die of thirst. And lastly it took a hell of a lot of energy out of me.

Gannon had popped round a couple days ago to take a look at the broken barn that sat at the back of my farm staring at me. Apart from a couple of structural problems, everything seemed in good condition and he announced that it was safe to start moving animals in. Yay, I wanted a cow. Strange – I've never said that before.

Gannon – now he scared me. At first I called him Gammon, completely by accident, and after calling him this for the fifth time he turned around and corrected me, with a scary look on his face. But after the misunderstanding was out of the way, he seemed like a genuine bloke. And his daughter, Eliza, was extremely pretty … how did that happen? I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath of the fresh air – this beat the city so much.

I thought back to the stupid men who drove me out. Now that was prick level 100. I bet they were running around like headless chickens, I smirked to myself at the thought. This wasn't even my fault; I would never have included myself with people like that. It was my dad they ought to be after not me, but because he'd abandoned me with no trace, apparently his debt was inherited. Pricks.

Suddenly there was a loud moo from behind me which caused my head to snap up. Turning around I laid eyes on the cutest looking animal I'd ever seen. Was it normal to say I'd never seen a cow in real life? I guess everyone has at some point so why couldn't I start now? I rushed over to her and placed my hand on her head where she mood approvingly and pushed her head up into my hand more. I chuckled, her skin was thick and soft under my touch.

I looked up at the person who had brought her, I wish I could say I was surprised but I really wasn't, stood in front of me was Vaughn, his long silver hair sticking up out from under his black hat and his purple eyes glistening in the sun. I smiled at him warmly; maybe he was in a better mood today.

"Here" He mumbled before handing over the rope which was tied securely around her neck. Okay maybe not. I looked at him confused but he just stared at me. Seriously, I wasn't that boring was I?

"What?" I asked as I looked down at the rope. Don't get your hopes up Chelsea; he wasn't just about to give you a cow. He growled under his breath quietly before turning to look at me, his deep purple eyes connecting with mine. He can't be that socially awkward. Socially awkward people can't make eye contact, I guess he was just grumpy.

"Well you need a cow if you want to start raising animals …" He muttered before looking around at my farm. He pushed his hat backwards to take a better glance and I swear there was a slight twitch in his face. Or maybe it was a spasm, either way I took it as a compliment. Recently I had got the impression that some people were a little … sceptic of me, the girl from the city with no background. Mark brushed all that aside though. Yesterday he showed me the islands, some were … interesting to say the least, especially that Volcano one. I mean it's a frickin' volcano with lava outside and yet there were people walking about like it was no big deal. Let's just say I was happy when we could get back on the boat and leave.

Still there was something about Mark, something he held back and it confused me. It felt like when you walk into a room and you can't remember what you went in for. That same frustration lingered over him and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.

I turned to Vaughn and shot him a smug smile. Yeah that's right Vaughn, I can cultiv … cultavat … I can grow things. He grunted as he turned back to me and glared daggers into me. Jeeze step back, take the pin out of your arse and lighten the hell up.

"Hey, I don't want to do this anymore than you do but suck it up and help me" I roll my eyes before pulling on the rope for the cow to follow me. As I began to head towards the barn I was suddenly pulled back and fell onto my arse … hard. Looking up I noticed that the cow was still stood in place, and Vaughn had a smirk on his face that he was trying to supress. I glared at him before pulling on the rope, but of course, the cow didn't move. Growling I walked up to her and crossed my arms, well I was stumped. I swallowed my pride before turning to Vaughn and sighing. Vaughn took the rope out of my hands, his gloved hand brushing against mine as he did, and in one swift movement, the cow was walking behind us. I stared at him in amazement before shutting my mouth and following behind him.

"How did you do that?" I asked, still not sure how he managed to get the stubborn thing to move. He turned to look at me, the purple of his eyes stabbing me like knives. I'm not sure if this was his way of being friendly or he just hated me, plain and simple.

"It's just how you handle them" He replied as we reached the doors to the barn. Yeah, thanks for that Vaughn, that cleared everything up. As we entered, Vaughn paused for a second. Damn I wish I could read minds. He looked around the cosy barn which was filled with fresh hay. I was starting to think that this guy had no confidence in me what-so-ever.

He loosened the rope around the cow's neck and gently pulled in off to let her explore her new home. She walked up to some hay, sniffed in and then lay down in it. I took it as a compliment and smiled at my new cow.

"So what you gonna name her?" He asked. I turned to face him and caught him looking at me with curiosity, it was as if he was trying to understand me. Pftt good luck there, if you found out give me a ring. I racked my brain and came out empty.

It was like when someone asks you what your favourite movie is and then you forget every single movie you've ever watched. Yeah, similar memory loss happening here. I looked at him with a strange look on my face. If I could describe it then I would but I don't think anyone could describe the way I looked. I guess the closest thing was a cross between 'I-have-no-fucking-idea' and 'chelsea-what-are-you-doing-with-your-life'. Vaughn confirmed my suspicions when he frowned at me.

"I have no idea" I finally muttered before shooting a sideways glance at my cow. I guess I could call it something clichéd like 'Moo' or 'Clover' but that seemed boring. Vaughn sighed and if he wasn't trying to be nice, trying, then I'm sure he would have face palmed so fast that I wouldn't have had time to blinked. I smiled at him before taking a step closer and raising an eyebrow, trying to hint to him to help me out.

"What do you suggest?" I finally asked when he didn't take my hint. He glanced at the cow before looking at me again. If I didn't know better, then I could have sworn he was comparing me to the cow. I swear if he said Chelsea then I would bitch slap him faster than he could say … well, Chelsea.

After a couple minutes of silence I opened my mouth to speak.

"Ebony" He then replied before I had the chance to say anything. I turned to look at the cow and smiled, that was actually a good name. I mean sadistic Chelsea was thinking of naming her 'hamburger' but I guess that wasn't appropriate. And now I was hungry. I turned back to Vaughn and smiled.

"Good name cowboy" I laughed before walking over to Ebony. She nudged her head into my side before returning to the hay. I watched Vaughn carefully as he walked over to us, his eyes momentarily glanced at mine before he crouched down to look at Ebony.

"Do you know anything about looking after a cow?" He asked, not returning his gaze to me. I shook my head, did I bollocks.

"They … eat" I said, probably the most I knew about looking after cows. He rolled his eyes before resting his elbows on his knees and looking at me.

"Cows are very delicate creatures, they need a lot of looking after if you want the best quality milk" He turned to look at me, his purple eyes searching mine. There was a long silence as we looked at each other before he turned back to the cow and gently placed his hand on her back.

"Here, if you clean them frequently their health will remain in good condition" He carried on, ignoring our weird staring moment as he handed me a little orange brush. I took it out of his hands and looked at Ebony before looking back at him. He motioned for me to go ahead as I brought the brush up to her skin and gently combed over her body. She mood happily as I chuckled at her. She could tell she was going to be spoilt, it was like she was the first kid so all the love was spotlighted on her. After brushing her skin carefully I fell back onto a pile of hay and chuckled. I'd never been allowed a pet before, I mean I was offered a goldfish but they freaked me out. My best friend Molly had one in primary, we went back to hers for dinner one night and as we sat down at the table I glanced over to her fish tank … one of her gold fish seemed to be acting strangely. Looking closely I realised that it was actually floating and because of the water purifier blowing bubbles into the tank, the fish was being pushed around in circles. Scarred me for life, especially since I was just 7, erg the memories. Cows, now I bet they didn't float around.

I turned back to face Vaughn and caught him looking at me. As soon as our eyes met he looked away and stroked the cow softly.

"You can milk them once a day" He continued as he picked up a milker. Where was he getting all these stuff from? I mean it didn't look like he had a bag. Before I had the chance to question him he was standing up and when he did Ebony did too. Man this guy was like some kind of animal magnet.

"It's pretty simple once you get a hang of it" He said as he motioned for me to come towards him. I stood up off the floor and walked around. Standing next to him I gawped at how tall he was, Jesus holey shit. Now that is what you call tall. And it wasn't that lanky kind of tall it was the nice kind of tall … if that made sense. He crouched down and attached the milker to her udders before the milk started flowing down the tube things and into the container at the bottom. If I wasn't so childish then this would have been a normal thing for me, but because I wasn't mature enough I had to stifle a parade off giggles.

"Here" He mumbled as he stepped out of the way to let me take his place. He kept a hand on the milker and only let go when he was sure I had a tight grip on it. I stared at it; I had no fucking idea what I was doing, great start Chelsea.

I looked up at Vaughn in panic when no more milk flowed. He grumbled quietly before reaching down. I shuffled out of the way slightly to make room for him as he took it out of my hands again.

"Like this" He muttered as he gently held it in his hands. I looked down at his gloves; I'd never seen the reason for fingerless one's. I mean maybe it was a fashion statement but they didn't serve any purpose. I thought people put gloves on to either protect their hands or keep them warm. When the fingers were missing what was the point? Or were fingers magically resistant to both of those things? He turned to face me, his face inches from mine. I could feel his cool breath on my face as I looked into his eyes.

Now, most of you know will be thinking 'awe cute'. Me? I liked my personal space, and when someone walked into that personal space – they got bitten. He got up and stepped away as I took hold of the milker in my hands once again. This time the milk flowed steadily into the container at the bottom. I smiled as I pulled it away and held the can of milk in my hands. It was unusually big in comparison to my body, but if I was getting one of these a day I'm sure I would soon make enough money to help build on my farm. I chuckled as I placed it on the ground next to me before turning back to Vaughn.

"If she gets sick Mirabelle should have some medicine …" He mumbled quietly as he fidgeted with his hat. I nodded understandingly before shoving my hands into my jean pockets. Considering I hated the colour yellow it was strange how I chose this stupid long sleeved top. If I knew that the boat was gonna sink and I was going to be stuck with these clothes then I would have chosen something a little more … normal. Ebony sat back down on the floor and I copied her, falling into a soft heap of hay. Looking up at the cowboy I stared at him in curiosity.

"So how long have you been working with animals?" I asked, not really sure how to start a conversation with this guy. I didn't care if he didn't like me – I was going to make this guy my friend, there was no time for enemies. I'd never liked being hated. He shrugged before crouching down next to Ebony and placing his hand delicately on Ebony's back.

"I dunno, a long time I guess" He mumbled quietly, keeping his answers short and sweet. Well I guess a little communication was better than death glances, now we were getting somewhere. There was a long pause as I thought about his words. How can someone not know how long they've had a job for? Unless they grew up with them.

"Do your parents like animals then?" I asked. He shot me a sideways glance, his deep violet eyes searching mine once again.

"They're dead" He mumbled before he switched his gaze back to Ebony. A lump rose in my throat as I remembered that I told everyone that my parents were also dead. A slight wave of guilt swept over me as I sat straight up.

"I'm sorry" I said quietly. He dropped his gaze to the ground before turning back to face me and sighing.

"And yours?" He asked raising an eyebrow. I chocked on the lump in my throat before looking back up at him. I know you heard me the other week Mr Cowboy. I saw the look you burned into me.

"Well … my Mum died in childbirth so I never knew her" I replied quietly. I've never been upset about it like I wish I was but I guess you can never really miss someone when you never knew then. I mean thousands of people die every day, yet we're not upset about it because we don't know them.

Vaughn stared at me and drank in the emotions that rolled off my face. Fortunately for me – I didn't have any. There was another long silence as I stared at him intently. That's right cowboy – you're not the only one who can be mysterious.

My plan? If I acted like this guy then maybe he'd stop being so dull and we would become friends. It's weird how his personality affected me but when people shot you glares for no reason, it made you want to befriend said weirdo. Or maybe that was just me. Either way I was determined to have a real conversation with this guy.

"And your dad?" He asked. If my butt wasn't firmly secured on the ground I'm sure my legs would have buckled, causing me to face plant the floor. I chocked loudly as Vaughn shot me a strange look. After finally retaining myself I dodged his gaze as I shifted awkwardly.

I would NEVER utter a single word of Chelsea Dawson. That girl died in the storm – and should be forgotten, never to rear her ugly past again.

"He … died" I mumbled quietly. Vaughn stopped stroking Ebony and turned around to face me, his amethyst eyes still searching mine, trying to discover what I was. I switched my gaze to Ebony as she chewed on the hay.

Suddenly there was a knock on the barn door. I turned to face Vaughn and frowned, who was that? Then the double doors opened and in walked Natalie, a new hairband in her hair to stop the annoying strands from falling into her face. Her gaze turned to Vaughn and suddenly a fire was ignited behind her eyes. Vaughn turned to me before standing up and dusting himself down.

"See you around" He mumbled before pushing past Natalie and walking out of the door. Ha! I had made a friend; I mean someone who hated you wouldn't say 'see you around'. Score one for Chelsea – Boom!

I turned to Natalie and the fire had died down, these were the mood swings that confused me. I mean one moment she would be fuming and the next she would be perfectly normal. *cough* whiplash *cough*.

I smiled at her none the less; despite her ever changing mood shifts I actually liked her. She was down to earth and understood a lot of things. Julia, she was awesome but sometimes I needed someone to let off the fume and talk about something other than models and clothes.

"Hey Natalie, what do you need?" I asked as I smiled at her. She remained quiet for a moment before replying.

"I was just checking in on how the farm was" She mumbled quietly. I nodded and headed out of the doors to look at my farm. Yeah, it was looking pretty good if I say so myself.

"Taro wanted me to warm you that it's going to be extra hot tomorrow" She said before rolling her eyes. I chuckled slightly, Taro always wanted to warn me about the weather … every single day. I suggested to him that he should be the weather man but he made some weird excuse that he wasn't as young as he used to be. We all knew that wasn't true, the way he whipped about the island, overseeing everyone's actions.

"You want to get some coffee?" She asked. I groaned internally. My body could not actually withhold another coffee, it disgusted me. Rolling my eyes I nodded.

"But _I'm_ having water" I laughed before turning to walk towards town. Then I quickly remembered something. Rushing back into the barn I picked up the pitcher of milk and lugged it out of the doors. Natalie shot me a confused look but I brushed it off.

"You don't mind if I just nip into Mirabelle's for a second do you?"

**I was just thinking that if Natsume brought out another Harvest Moon with Vaughn, Will, Cam, Ivan, Skye and Neil in then there would be some huge fangirl war ending in multiple deaths due to squealing. Aha, I think they should bring out another game with Vaughn, Chelsea and everyone back in though – They were my favourite characters throughout all the series :P Anyways enough with my rambling, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed and stay tuned :D **


	7. Milk sucks

**Hey guys, so sorry for the long wait. I've had loads of things to be doing :P Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy this chapter :D Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters x**

One Last Dance – Chapter 7

Chelsea's P.O.V

I lugged the heavy milk churn across that stupid bridge and towards Mirabelle's. This Cowboy better fucking appreciate it or this was going over his head. As we stopped outside Mirabelle's Natalie slowed down before coming to a stop five feet away.

"You not coming?" I asked turning, very slowly, to face her. She stood quietly for a second before shaking her head. Stupid Chelsea – there was some weird tension thing between this family and Natalie, of course she wouldn't come in. I rolled my eyes, mainly at myself, before opening the door using my butt.

The room was warm and welcoming as I trudged up to the counter. Mirabelle smiled but I didn't have time to be friendly. I just looked at her before feeling a strange clicking in my shoulder.

"Where is he?" I asked. Although I meant it in a nice way it came out as if I was spitting my words. This milk was so frickin' heavy! She chuckled before motioning towards the corridor. I smiled quickly before heading over to the corridor, dragging my feet behind me as I did. I walked over to his door, the one with the foot hole in it. Looking at it, I tried to think of a way to knock without dropping the milk or dislocating my arms … I ended up hitting my forehead against it. Then before he had time to answer it I pushed my butt against it and pushed the handle down with my right elbow.

I stumbled inside and was met by Vaughn who was sat quietly at a desk which was held up by a wall to the left of me. Without even saying hi I slammed the churn straight down next to him and heard the creamy liquid inside splash around. I leant on it with relief as my arms finally had a chance to relax. Looking down at Vaughn I smiled for a split second before breathing heavily. My previous comment about me being unhealthy before - well now it was an understatement.

"I never got to thank you for helping me today" I smiled when my breath finally caught up to me. Vaughn grunted before looking up into my eyes. I stared back at him; I could keep this up as long as you can cowboy.

"Thanks for the gesture but I don't need it" He mumbled before spinning around in his chair so that his whole body was facing me. I glared at him before pushing it out of the way so my gaze was focused directly on him.

"Listen here cowboy. You will take this and enjoy it because you brought me a cow, you brought me a brush and you brought me a milker. If you don't then I will force you to drink the whole thing right now and I think we both know that that won't be pretty" I threatened, wow, _I _didn't even know I could be that scary. I mean it was nothing compared to Natalie scary but for me it was Chelsea scary to the max. He searched my eyes carefully before there was a slight twitch at the corners of his mouth. In one swift movement he pulled down the tip of his hat to hide any trace of smile. Yeah bitch – I got the cowboy to smile … even if I didn't see it.

"Thanks" He mumbled from under his hat. I smiled down at him in contentment before turning around to walk out of his room.

"You're welcome cowboy" I smirked before leaving his room and closing the door as I went. Chelsea 1 – 0 Vaughn. Boom yeah! Smiling to myself I passed Julia on my way to the front door. She smiled and bounded over to me before taking me into a hug.

"Hey Chelsea, I'm literally so bored. Pleassse take me away from this place or you will force me to shoot myself" She begged jokingly. I rolled my eyes and laughed at her.

"Sure – I mean me and Natalie are going to get some …" I though very carefully about my words "… drinks, you could join us if you wanted?" I asked smiling at her in mock pity.

Her face suddenly dropped 50 stories. The nice mocking tone now completely vanished by the mention of Natalie's name. What the fuck was going on here? I swear – if I didn't know what it was by the end of the night then I seriously would have to reconsider that mass murderer thing. Mirabelle and Julia exchanged glances before both of them smiled warmly at me.

Fake.

"Maybe some other time?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow. I stared at her with a sceptic expression plastered over my face. Well if you didn't ask you never found out right?

"Why do you lot have a thing against Natalie?" I asked straight out with it. Both Mirabelle and Julia swapped glances again before looking around the room awkwardly.

Mirabelle suddenly busied herself in a bunch of paperwork which was set on the desk while Julia shot her a 'how-could-you-leave-me-with-this' glance. I narrowed my eyes to look at them both. There clearly was something they weren't telling me. I mean I know Natalie can appear a little forceful but jeeze, she wasn't that bad was she? Looking at Julia I shot her a glance. She swallowed before looking up off the floor and staring at me awkwardly.

"I don't have anything against Natalie … it's just …" As she was about to answer me Vaughn walked into the room and Julia suddenly jumped two metres away from me and dived into a bunch of magazines left on the coffee table.

"Oh there they are, wow I forgot about these ones. Look Chels this is the one I meant" She grinned widely at me before her eyes darted momentarily towards Vaughn before me again. I narrowed my eyes at her, so I'm guessing it involved something to do with Vaughn – and she obviously didn't want to know that he knew she was talking about him. Hmm I think it might be time for detective Chelsea to appear. Pftt I wasn't that nosey was I?

I rolled my eyes before pulling Julia into a hug and smiling at her, maybe _too_ nicely.

"I will find out what you are hiding" I jokingly threatened into her ear before pulling away and waving. She laughed, too hysterically, trying to hide any trace of the conversation we just had. I waved goodbye to Mirabelle before leaving the building and finding Natalie again who stood against the side of Chen's shop looking bored.

"Hey" I called over before waving at her. She shot me a slight smile before her scowl returned and we made our way towards the diner.

As we walked inside the smell off coffee hit me like a sour slap. Looking around the diner there weren't really any spare tables left. Gannon sat at one with Eliza, the priest guy sat with his girlfriend … or his daughter, I didn't really know who. The blond haired chef kid, Pierre, sat at one where he seemed to be staring intently at his food, like he was mentally talking to it while at the back table sat a black haired girl who I'd never seen before. Natalie groaned beside me before turning around to head outside. I placed my hand on her shoulder to stop her before I looked at her.

"Why don't we just share?" I asked before glancing around the tables again. Natalie moaned as I rolled my eyes and began to head toward the black haired girl. Moving closer I caught sight of her perfectly rounded glasses and porcelain skin. She was buried deep inside a book which hid most of her facial features.

"Hey you don't mind if we sit with you do you? All the other tables are full" I smiled. She slowly pulled the book down to reveal her pale purple eyes which searched mine. Putting the book down, she pushed up her glasses and blushed.

"Y-yes I was about to leave" She smiled at us before getting up. Suddenly I felt really guilty for kicking her off her table and stopped her.

"You don't have to go because of us, do you want to stick around for a drink?" I asked smiling down at her. She blushed slightly before smiling.

"Okay" She said quietly as she took her seat again. Natalie groaned behind me but I kicked her slightly with the back of my heal before taking a seat and sitting down. Natalie took the one opposite me so we all sat in a triangle.

"My name's Chelsea by the way", I smiled as I held out my hand. If I hadn't seen her then I'm sure she didn't know who I was. Well maybe she did, gossip soon flew around this island.

"M-My name's Sabrina, Sabrina D-Donovan" She stuttered as she took my hand and shook. Her hand seemed cool and delicate compared to my rough farmer's hand. I smiled before quickly taking a glance at her book, To Kill a Mockingbird.

"Have you got up to the part where Jem, Scout and Dill are at the trial?" I asked, feeling clever that I could talk about a book with no pictures. I'd never been one for reading but I had to study this book for six months when I did my English Literature course in High School. Sabrina smiled at me before pushing up her glasses again.

"Yeah I've N-Nearly finished it. I l-love how Boo came out of his house j-just to save the children" She smiled shyly. I grinned in reply as Natalie's clearly short attention span suddenly made an appearance.

"Nerd talk" She coughed under her breath not so subtlety just as Luke came over with his pencil at the ready. While both Natalie and Sabrina ordered coffee I stuck with the water, and it was free as well.

"I've not seen you around, do you live around here?" I asked. Sabrina took a sip of her coffee elegantly before she turned to look at me.

"I l-live with my dad, Regis, in the house n-next to the hotel" She stuttered shyly. Okay so I was guessing this girl was generally self-conscious about herself for some reason, I felt sorry for her. I'd hate it if I was so paranoid about what people thought that I couldn't really speak to someone. Maybe it was something to do with her stutter.

"That's a house!" I gawped, suddenly realising that I thought it was a museum for the past week. I shut my mouth and blushed slightly at my outburst, because that wasn't rude at all was it Chelsea, oh no.

"Y-Yeah. My Dad owns a s-successful mining company" She blushed before pushing up her glasses once again. Ooh, rich girl on the island. She actually seemed like an interesting person, I could get used to making all these friends.

I turned to Natalie who looked like she was about to nod off and nudged her with my forefinger.

"Sorry to bore you" I rolled my eyes. She smirked before picking up her drink. Just then the door opened and surprise, surprise – a cowboy walked in. I followed him with my gaze, what was he stalking me now? Jeeze I only gave him some milk. He walked up to the counter and stared at Luke. After Luke hurriedly rushed off to make his order, Vaughn turned to look around the room. His eyes lingered on the free table Pierre had left before he swept his eyes over us. Our eyes met and I lingered slightly before turning back to look at Natalie who had her back to him. I pleaded that she wouldn't turn around; I couldn't deal with another mood swing. From the corner of my eye I saw Vaughn take a steaming bowl towards his table where he sat down and picked up his spoon. The light bounced off his silver hair from under his hat. There was a twinge at the bottom of my stomach as his amethyst eyes found mine, what the hell was that. I looked away and frowned into my glass of water. What the frickin' hell was that? I looked up again to reassure myself it was just me but as soon as our eyes met my stomach knotted slightly. Chelsea, you are one weird kid. Stop thinking, just stop yourself now. But in some way the stupid cowboy looked kind of handsome.

**Ooh so is Chelsea feeling something for Vaughn? Hmm, never saw that one coming! Haha so again I hoped you liked it and thanks for reading, please review and tell me what you think, not had much feedback so I hope it's going alright :) Stay tuned – See ya**


	8. Gaydar

**Hey people, sorry for another long update. Thanks again for reading and reviewing, I love reading them :D So yeah, hope you enjoy this chapter. Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its Characters x**

One Last Dance – Chapter 8

Chelsea's P.O.V

_The illuminations lit the air and twinkled like bright stars in the night sky. I looked at them in awe as Dad pulled me onto his shoulders and pointed at the biggest one at the end of the street. I gawped, it was so pretty. The music became louder as dancers made their way up the road, the atmosphere was incredible. _

_ "Daddy, Daddy, look", I giggled as fireworks went off in the distance, exploding in colours of apple red and avocado green. Dad chuckled just as five Catherine wheels joined in a t the side of the road. The colours lit up the air as we continued to make our way up the busy road._

The soft sand felt warm against my feet as I dug my toes deeper into the tiny grains. Opening my eyes I skimmed the horizon which the sun delicately danced over. The sea slowly washed over my ankles as it sprayed salty water into my face. I thought back to Vaughn, the way my stomach knotted last time I saw him, I was just being stupid. Of course I was, why would you even think about that? Just stop yourself; he's a jerk who doesn't speak. There – it was established.

Rolling my eyes I turned around and looked at the spotless beach. Denny and his pop star girlfriend sat at the other end in each other's arms. I stood staring at them for a while before realising that I looked like a paedo and turning towards Sabrina, who sat leaning against the rock covered in seaweed, buried deep inside a book. I quickly made my way over and sat down besides beside her.

"Hey" I smiled at her. She peaked up from under her book and lowered it, but only low enough so her nose was on show. She kept her mouth covered. She mumbled something but the book muffled her quiet voice so I couldn't hear.

"I can't here you, you're going to have to lower your book" I chuckled as I gently pushed the top of her book down. Then I gasped and stared at her. Her bottom lip was slightly swollen and there was a purple bruise forming accompanied with a small slit.

"Oh my god Sabrina what happened?" I asked as my hand ran up to my mouth in shock. She replaced her book so I couldn't see it any longer before pushing up her glassed.

"I-I slipped on those herbs that g-grow. I g-guess I caught myself on a r-rock" She stuttered quietly as she hit behind a hardback edition of Wuthering Heights. I eyed her suspiciously before pushing her book down again. Damn that looked sore.

"Are you alright? Did it hurt?" I asked. She paused for a second before shrugging slightly.

"N-Not really. I'm very c-clumsy" She muttered. I narrowed my eyes, how could someone get something like that from falling on a rock? I'd only seen dad's friends coming over with split lips like that, but I knew they'd been brawling.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get a doctor or something?" I asked frowning. She shook her head quietly. I could have pushed her to at least see a doctor but I respected her privacy, besides, it looked as if she'd cleaned it pretty well herself. She pulled her book back up to her face and continued reading, I studied her carefully, she was hiding something from me – I knew she was.

Just then a familiar baseball cap came running onto the beach and over to me. His green eyes searched mine.

"Hey Chels, hey Sabrina" He called just as he reached us. I looked up at him and smiled before nudging Sabrina slightly.

"Hey Mark what do you want?" I asked. He chuckled before running a hand through his hair and returning the smile.

"I've just been talking to all the guys and we've decided. It's the warmest Spring we've had and we were thinking of having a beach party before it gets too hot" He grinned before kicking a little bit of sand with his boot. It was strange, both of our outfits were so random like we'd got changed in the dark while everyone else's seemed to … well go together.

"Yeah that sounds awesome" I smiled before turning back to Sabrina who had suddenly become all fidgety.

"You gonna come Sabrina?" I asked, eyeing her carefully. She coughed slightly before shrugging.

"I don't k-know. I mean I m-might be busy with work and e-everything" She muttered quietly as she looked at the ground. I rolled my eyes before smiling at her; it was actually quite impressive how committed she was to her work.

"Come one Sabs, I'll talk to Regis if you want" Mark smiled down at her, using her abbreviated name which I knew she hated from the way her eye twitched when he said it.

"No, No it'll be fine. I-I'll come if you r-really want me to" She smiled at him, her voice suddenly picking up the tone. I narrowed my eyes again, there defiantly was something going on.

"That's great! I don't suppose you guys want to hang out do you?" He asked as he played with the little tuff of hair sticking up out of his hat.

"Sure" I laughed as Sabrina stayed silent. I turned to look at her.

"I've got to be g-getting back. I'm sure f-father will be wondering where I am" She mumbled quietly before standing up and timidly walking off towards town. I looked up to Mark and frowned at me but he just shrugged and held out a hand to help me up. I gladly took it before standing next to me.

"So where do you wanna go then?" I asked as I stretching dramatically. Mark chuckled before motioning towards Kirk who sat looking bored in his little boat. I rolled my eyes before looking up at him.

"Mushroom Island?" I asked, already knowing the answer. He nodded before laughing and punching my arm playfully.

"Hey don't give me that look" He laughed as we began heading towards the bored boatman. As we climbed aboard I watched the gentle waves hit the side of the boat peacefully. In the distance dolphins jumped out of the water and frolicked about with each other. It really was beautiful here; I'd never had much experience with the outdoors – being a city girl and everything.

We arrived at Mushroom Island in just under 10 minutes. Getting off I looked around at the three humungous mushrooms growing in the centre. Damn they were creepy. They towered over both of us and stuck out like giant umbrellas, it was just freaky.

"Race ya to the tree's" He winked before taking off. I growled at him before following him.

"No fair you got a head start!" I yelled as I trailed him. Of course he got there first and though it would be nice if he took the piss saying how I was unfit. That may be true but that was an unfair race, so I punched him on the arm, hard.

We both burst out laughing as we fell to the ground. There was a rustle in the bushes and a guy wearing tiger print boots and shirt suddenly jumped out. Startled I jumped back and landed onto Mark who laughed at my reaction.

"Mark? You have friend?" He asked as he moved closer towards me, his hand outstretched. I turned back to Mark, he nodded as I held out my hand. Shea carefully held out a finger and prodded me before stepping backwards and looking at Mark.

"Funny guy. Not seen anyone like him" He muttered as a single strand of hair fell into his face. I'm not sure if I was supposed to be offended off not – either way I'm pretty sure I wasn't a man.

"No this is a woman" Mark laughed. I realised I was still sat on him and awkwardly got off and sat down next to him. Shea turned back to me and frowned.

"Wo-man?" He asked. I nodded and smiled.

"Chelsea" I chuckled quietly as I held out my hand. He eyed it carefully before taking another step back.

"I don't like this wo-man. He smells funny" He said before running off towards a cleverly camouflaged tee-pee. I followed him with my gaze before turning back to Mark and frowning. His gaze still stuck to the wild guy before I coughed and brought him out of his trance.

"Care to elaborate?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow. He laughed before rubbing the top of my hair.

"That is Shea. He's lives on this island as … let's say the real life Tarzan" He chuckled as his gaze switched back to Shea who was now sat on the ground stroking an animal. I rolled onto my back and looked at the trees that stood close by.

"Mark?" I asked. He didn't reply, he was too busy focused on the wild boy in the distance. I frowned before sitting back up and waving my arms in front of his face.

"Mark!?" I asked again. He shook his head and smiled at me.

"Yup?" He asked smiling at me. I eyed him carefully before shaking my head.

"It's nothing" I laughed before getting up and dusting off my arse. His gaze followed me before he rolled his eyes.

"Seriously Chels, where did you get that shirt? It looks as if you let my brother pick them out for you" He laughed as he prodded my stomach. I raised an eyebrow at him. HA! It had been right in front of me all along. Why had it taken me so long to figure out? I mean my radar is usually up to scratch – maybe I was having an off week. He was gay. Completely totally gay.

His gaze flicked back to Shea who was now preforming some tribal dance thing around the animal he was stroking. I looked back at him and nudged him with my elbow.

"Wanna place truth or dare?" I smirked before retaking my seat on the ground and turning to face him. He frowned before sitting up and crossing his legs and nodding.

"Sure I'm up for it" He winked before fiddling with his hair again, confirming my suspicions.

"Ok truth or dare?" I asked him. He thought about it for a second before smirking.

"Dare" Damn - I'll get him next time. Looking around I thought of a reasonable enough dare. I smirked before turning to look at him.

"You see that big mushroom over there?" I asked, nodding towards the one closest to us. He nodded before eyeing me carefully. "Go and pole dance" I smirked as I watched his face drop slightly. I watched him until he rolled his eyes and stood up.

"I hate you" He whispered before walking off towards the big mushroom. I held back a smirk as he sighed before wrapping a leg around the stump and swirling around, not as elegantly as I'd imagined. I stuck my arms in the air and danced to the pretend music as he rubbed his butt on the mushroom. I switched my gaze back to Shea, he was staring in fascination at Mark who was now dry humping the ground.

After a few minutes Mark came running back towards me and punched my arm. I laughed at him until my sides hurt before finally whipping away the laughter tears and grinning at him goofily.

"Truth or Dare?" He asked. I thought about it and decided it was best to avoid any situation where Chelsea Dawson came into it.

"Dare" I grinned before falling back onto my hands. He didn't hesitate before releasing his dare upon me.

"Go and Twerk over there" He smirked as he motioned to the side. I narrowed my eyes before standing up and elegantly walking over to where he had motioned. Sighing, I placed both of my hands on my hips before 'twerking'. I mean who the hell made the name twerk? It was stupid.

After jumping around and 'twerking' loads of times I walked back up to Mark and folded my arms. He laughed before hugging my shoulders slightly.

"I'm sorry" He smirked before falling back onto his hands. I rolled my eyes at him before smiling to myself.

"Truth or Dare?" I asked, crossing my fingers for truth. You'd never guessed that I was 24 – playing truth or dare. But I didn't give shit, I was going to make him confess. His emerald green eyes found mine before he smirked again.

"Truth – I'm not doing another pole dance" He laughed. I could have punched the air but I hid it behind a smug smile. Was it polite to ask him straight out? I didn't care – I was going to find out.

"Who do you have a crush on?" I raised an eyebrow and tucked my hair behind my ear so I could hear properly. He blushed and for a split second I saw his gaze flick over to Shea.

"No one" He then muttered. I could have punched him. Lies! I suddenly jumped up and pushed him down before crawling onto his stomach and folding my arms. He was not getting up until he admitted it.

"Chels get off me" He called. I stretched out my legs so they covered his face and stretched dramatically.

"Fine if you won't answer that question, answer this one" I smirked, looking at his nose sticking out awkwardly. He sighed before chuckling.

"Anything, your feet are making me feel light headed" He joked before pushing them off his face. I leant forward and smirked at him.

"Are you gay?"

**Aha so had Chelsea finally worked it out or has she got the wrong end of the stick? Stay tuned for the next update to find out. Hope you enjoyed and please review :D See ya.**


	9. Who doesn't like BonBons?

**Hey again guys, I finally managed to write up this one in time :P Just sat my four hour citizenship exam today … Four. Hours. Anyways thanks for reading and reviewing and what not – You know I love you all ;) So enjoy. Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters. **

One Last Dance – Chapter 9

Chelsea's P.O.V

He sat straight up and stared at me in shock. I fell off his chest and hit the floor with a thud. The silence in the air intensified so I frowned at him.

"What?" He asked, a thin gleam of sweat covering the top of his forehead. I raised my eyebrow and looking into his emerald green eyes again.

"Are you gay?" I repeated, not allowing the awkwardness of the atmosphere to affect me. Mark ran a hand though his hair before awkwardly looking at the ground.

"Why would you think that?" He asked, pausing for a second before looking back up at me. I rolled my eye and pointed to the flick of hair sticking out from under his cap. He blushed before returning his gaze to the ground again.

"And you're like my best friend Mark …" I finished, oh that sentimental thing actually sounded quite good and of course I meant it. He paused for a second before looking up at me from under his eyelashes.

"You mean it?" He asked, his voice quieter than usual. I nodded and took hold of his hand before squeezing it.

"Of course I did" I laughed before shaking my head at him and rolling my eyes at him. He smiled at me before running his fingers through his hair. I crossed my legs and cocked my head slightly to look at him. He coughed nervously before his eyes twitched and they darted to Shea for a split second before he looked back at me. And he thought I didn't notice – pftt. I stared intently into his eyes before he bowed his head once again.

"Promise you won't say anything" He muttered quietly. I jumped up off the floor and punched the air before jumping onto his so he fell backwards onto the floor.

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" I laughed as I pulled off his cap and messed up his hair. He chuckled before pushing me off and grabbing his hat that I kept tucked under my arms. Sitting up he dusted off his hair before looking at me and narrowing his eyes. I muffled a laugh before handing back his hat. His ash blond hair stuck up in every which way possible as he tried to pat it back down. I just laughed at him before standing up and holding a hand out for him to take. He jokingly shot me a glance before rolling his eyes and taking hold of it.

"I want some of that watermelon hand cream as well" I winked at him before skipping off towards the boat. He blushed slightly before following me back towards the boat where Kirk sat waiting for us. Man that job must have a lot of patience – I'd be screaming at everyone to get a fucking move on.

Hopping inside I stretched out and placed my feet onto Marks lap. My feet looked extremely stubby in these boots but to be honest – they were actually pretty roomy.

Arriving back at Verdure Island we both hopped off the boat and began heading up the path. Turning around I looked at Mark.

"So when is this beach party of yours?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as the sun danced on my face.

"Well me and Denny were thinking next week?" He replied smiling. I nodded, I'd have to work extra hard the night before so I could get out in time. We walked all the way back to the bridge of my farm where I paused and turned back around to face Mark.

"I guess I'll be seeing you round" I smirked before pulling him into a tight hug. He chuckled before pulling away and punching my arm. He was like the brother I never had.

"Speak a word of it and I will personally come and suffocate you in your sleep" He whispered before turning on his heels and walking off. I laughed as he walked away, yeah he was so gay. Rolling my eyes I turned around and stared at that stupid bridge. Sighing I fell to my knees and quickly crawled across the hard wooden surface before jumping up and batting myself off. I had to find a way of getting over that.

I chuckled to myself before heading towards my house. I looked down at my feet, man they really did look stubby. I didn't look up from the ground and being the genius I was – I walked right into someone. Tumbling back a couple of steps, a warm hand reached out and grabbed my wrist to stop me from falling flat on my arse. Frowning I looked up and saw Vaughn stood in front of me. Of course it was.

"Thanks" I mumbled quietly as I shook his hand off me. Ever since yesterday I'd tried to avoid him, it was just too weird. I looked up into his amethyst eyes and smiled warmly. He grumbled slightly before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small wrapped item. He shoved it into my hand before pulling down the rim of his hat to hide his face.

"Thanks for the milk" He muttered quietly. I smiled as I looked down at the little wrapped gift in the centre of my palm. I pulled at the corners and unwrapped the little present. Inside sat a collection of sweets from strawberry bon bons to gummy bears. I smiled at the little jar of sweets before looking back up at Vaughn.

"I don't care what anyone says, you're alright cowboy" I smirked before pulling him into a hug. The scent of hay filled the air as I pressed my face into his chest. Pulling away I chuckled as a thin layer of blush flushed his face. He looked at me and rolled his eyes before he pushed his hat back up off his face.

"Hey listen … wanna go get some food?" I asked as I tucked the sweets away into my bag pack before turning back to face him. Hey I cooked … sometimes. It's just Nick made the best food money has to buy. He paused for a second before looking into the distance.

"I've gotta work …" He mumbled quietly. I rolled my eyes before nodding.

"I'll see you round then" I laughed before walking past him and back towards my house. I watched him walk off before opening the door and heading straight to the kitchen. I wanted food and food is what I was going to get. Opening the cupboards I stared at the empty shelves. Another reason why I liked going to nicks – I could only cook rice. Groaning I shut the door and slouched as I walked to my couch and fell into it. I pulled out the little sweets and undid the jar lid before inhaling the sweet smell of sugar. One more thing you should know about me – I had the biggest sweet tooth anyone could imagine … I'm sure it was unhealthy. Grinning widely I dug into the jar and pulled out a little bon bon before placing it into my mouth. I felt the sugar dissolve on my tongue as the sweet taste of strawberries hit my back teeth. My mouth watered at the sweet taste as I placed another one in. How did Vaughn know these were my favourite? I guess it was just coincidence. I then narrowed my eyes – unless it wasn't a coincidence and he was actually stalking me. But then again, I hadn't had any of these on the island since I'd been here. Hmm, I guess there was only one way to find out. Hopping up I carefully placed my jar of sweets onto the little coffee table before heading back out of the front door. Well wasn't that a good rest? Quickly walking towards the bridge I crouch down and scuttled across before straightening up and coughing - as subtle as a skunk.

The sun was now dancing on the horizon as it cast an orange shadow on the islands. Looking down at my little watch I noted that it was already 6:00PM. Crap, I'd only eaten bread and strawberry bon bons today. Oh and that blue herb that apparently are really tasty – they're not. It's like eating grass … . Strolling into Mirabelle's shop I slide across the counter and grin at her as she messed around with some animal fodder. Turning round she jumped a little before placing her hand over her head.

"Oh Chelsea – You scared the living daylights out of me" She chuckled before placing her hands onto the counter. "You need something?"

I smiled apologetically before nodding.

"You seen Vaughn around?" I asked looking into her baby blue eyes. She smiled warmly before motioning towards the corridor.

"He's over in his room" She replied before flashing me a toothy grin. I smiled at her in thanks before spinning around and striding towards the corridor in four long paces. I walked straight up to Vaughn's door and knocked. Seconds later he answered, without his cowboy hat on. I stared at him, his silver hair stuck up in little cowlicks and fell down into his eyes. I shook my head before looking up into his eyes.

"Can I come in?" I asked, trying to avoid his gaze. He paused for a second before standing aside to allow me into the room. Walking in I drank in the surrounding. Last time I was here I'd been so busy with the milk that I'd never really paid attention to the décor. Vaughn closed the door in one swift movement before quietly walking to his computer chair and taking a seat.

His walls were painted black while the ceiling and skirting board remained white. The floor was made up of rich mahogany wood with a rectangle black rug in the centre. There was a wooden built-in wardrobe at the west end of the room just after the door. In the top right hand corner sat a double bed with black duvet sheets and a few fluffy white pillows. Next to the bed was his desk and the computer chair which he now sat in. On the desk were loads of papers scattered around and a cup of milk. Finally, at the south part of the room stood a chest of drawers with a single picture frame on it that sat with a detailed wooden box with a closed lid.

I walked over to the bed and gently sat on the edge before turning to face Vaughn. Looking into his amethyst eyes my stomach tightened, stop Chelsea – just stop yourself.

"You wanted something?" He mumbled, looking up from the ground and staring intently into my eyes. I frowned as I tried to think straight. Yes – yes I did come for something.

"How did you know those sweets were my favourite?" I asked, narrowing my eyes to look at him. His facial expression didn't change as I spoke; he just stared at me and blinked.

"Who doesn't like them?" He asked, his voice monotonal as he searched my eyes. I rolled my eyes and smirked – and I though he was just a stalker. I smiled at him and felt my stomach knot in a familiar way, what the fuck is happening.

"Who's that?" I asked, looking towards the only picture in the room. A woman sat in it with a little boy sat beside her. He had silver hair that bounced to his chin and shocking purple eyes that glistened with happiness. I'm guessing that was Vaughn. But he woman, she had short light brown hair which stopped just short of her shoulder. She too had piercing purple eyes but were filled with such love, it was unfamiliar to me.

Vaughn turned to look at the picture before returning his gaze back to me. There was a long silence before he spoke again.

"That was my mum" He said, his velvety voice not revealing any emotion. I studied him carefully, waiting for a leakage of emotions. I looked down at the floor awkwardly. I didn't know what to say – I've never been too good with emotions. Just then my stomach growled fiercely. I clutched it as the sudden though of food turned my stomach into a pack of wild dogs.

"Hey listen …" He muttered quietly as I looked up at him. He ran a hand through his messy hair before coughing awkwardly. "You wanna go get that food now?" He asked. I stared at him for a second before smiling and nodding. His mouth ever so slightly turned up at the corners as he stood up. Was that a smile Mr Cowboy Vaughn? Smiling I stood up off the bed and watched Vaughn as he picked up his hat of the desk and placed it onto his messy silver hair. He turned around and nodded towards the door before walking out. I followed shortly behind him and shut the door on my way out. We walked into the sitting room where Julia and Elliot sat with Mirabelle - I guess it was their brake. Julia followed us with her gaze as we headed towards the front door.

"Where you going?" Mirabelle chirped up as she turned around to face us. I opened my mouth to answer but Vaughn cut in before I had to chance to speak.

"Going out for supper tonight" He mumbled, staring at all three of the eyes that switched from him to me. Because I didn't feel awkward at all. Mirabelle smiled warmly at me as Vaughn began walking toward the door again. I smiled in return at them all before quickly following Vaughn out of the door. My stomach growled again as we stepped outside, Jesus Christ I was hungry.

**So here's the end to another update. Thanks again for reading and please don't forget to review. So yeah ... that's pretty much it :P So stick around for the next update :D later**


	10. Pizza Vs Porridge

**Hey guys, here is Chapter 10 :D Thanks again for reading and reviewing, really appreciate it. Anyways I hope you enjoy this paragraph, Chelsea and Vaughn's bonding time :P Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters. **

One Last Dance – Chapter 10

Chelsea's P.O.V.

The journey to the diner didn't take that long considering it was literally right outside the animal shop. Thankfully Vaughn walked slowly so I could walk next to him and didn't get lost behind. Opening the big double doors, we were immediately hit by the smell of freshly baked bread. It was pretty empty I guess, of the five tables that sat around two of them were free. Vaughn walked straight to the one at the back which was furthest away from every other table before taking a seat. I followed him and took the seat opposite before Nick scuttled over with two menu's.

"Thanks to your farm Chels we've been able to cook decent enough food and expand the menu, I hope you enjoy" He smiled down at me before handing us both a menu. I smiled in return before looking over at Vaughn who had placed the menu flat onto the table and was now staring at me.

"You not ordering?" I asked frowning slightly. He pushed his hat out of his amethyst eyes to search mine deeply, sending my stomach into oblivion. Damn it.

"I already know what I'm getting" He then mumbled before breaking the gaze and looking down at the table. I nodded before turning my attention back to the menu, it had grown. Now they didn't just sell coffee – inside I was celebrating. Now, normal girls look towards the salad which they pick at like anorexic ants. Me, I wanted the Risotto, the Paella and the pizza all mixed into one massive dish. But then again I had to think of my wallet which was now becoming increasingly small, I could pig out when the frickin' turnips grew. I smiled at the pizza which was almost visible on the table before placing the menu down and clutching my ravenous tummy. I looked up from the table to Vaughn who's eyes were fixed on mine, his iris amethyst and sparkling in the artificial light. They clung to me, but not in a creepy way. They were full of mystery and held something behind them, something he didn't want me to see. I let my eyes roam his face, from his nose to his well-defined jaw where there was a slight trace of stubble forming. He had wide cheekbones where the end of his fringe hovered delicately. My gaze moved to his lips, they were thin and wore a pale pink colour … they looked so soft and inviting.

Nick suddenly coughed and made me shit myself, causing me to fly backwards into my chair. I blushed slightly before flicking my hair to the side and staring at him like nothing had happened.

"Are you ready to take your order now?" He asked, a little embarrassed that he'd interrupted a strange staring thing. I risked a glance at Vaughn who had pulled his hat down to cover his face.

"I'll just have some Pizza please" I replied, maybe a little too eager. He nodded and smiled before turning to Vaughn.

"The usual?" He asked. Vaughn nodded slowly, before straightening up in his seat. His silver hair fell into his eyes as Nick scribbled down the orders.

"And drinks?" He asked, switching his gaze between the both of us. I hadn't had the chance to look at the drinks properly so I just turned to Vaughn and shrugged.

"Anything" He mumbled quietly to Nick. He nodded before spinning around on his heel and walking off. "Just not coffee" He added. Nick nodded understandingly before vanishing into the kitchen.

I avoided Vaughn's gaze and turned to look at the table's surrounding us. There weren't much people in tonight. Sabrina's dad, Regis, sat at one table on his own. I'd only ever seen him out of the house once and even then it was only briefly so it came as a shock to see him sat in a public place. And the only other person around was a black haired women with some kind of chopsticks sticking out of her messy bun.

I turned my attention back to Vaughn and smiled at him, pretending that nothing happened before.

"I'm glad you finally decided to come out for food" I laughed before leaning back in my chair, avoiding another leaning in staring montage thing. He switched his gaze from the wall to me and nodded.

"I guess I was getting pretty hungry" He mumbled as his eyes searched mine again. He still held that expression, the one he had from the very first day I met him. He was trying to figure me out. There was another silent pause as we exchanged glances before mine fell back down to the table.

"What was she like?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the yellow table cloths – erg, yellow. Vaughn tensed in his chair slightly before I flicked my eyes up to see him. His expression didn't change but his posture was stiffer, shit Chelsea, sensitive subject.

Nick suddenly scuttled over holding two drinks. He placed one down in front of me and one down in front of Vaughn before flashing us a smile and returning back to the kitchen. He always seemed to come at the right time, thank you nick. Unfortunately he lacked the means in telling us what frickin' drink it was. Simultaneously, both me and Vaughn peered into the glass and stared at the strange purple liquid in front of us. I raised an eyebrow before smirking and looking up at Vaughn.

"Go ahead cowboy" I smirked at his wary face. He narrowed his eyes before prodding the drink with his forefinger.

"Ladies first" He muttered, a slight twitch of a smile curling the sides of his mouth. I rolled my eyes at him before wrapping my fingers around the cool glass.

"Same time?" I asked, eyeing him carefully. He paused for a second before nodding.

"You're on" He smirked before taking hold of the cup. I looked down at mine and closed one eye to take a better look at it, I just prayed it was grape juice.

"Three" His deep velvet voice spoke clearly.

"Two" I smirked in reply.

"One" We mumbled together and then down the hatch it went. At first a blast of sweetness hit me but then came a creamy taste which churned my stomach. I looked at Vaughn who's face had a look of pure disgust plastered on it. I spat the rest of it out in the cup and placed it back on the table before sticking out my tongue to try and air out the taste. That was the second most disgusting thing I'd ever drank, coffee still outstretched it though. I placed my hands over my eyes as I was suddenly overcome by laughter. There I was, sitting with my tongue out laughing like a demented person, smooth Chelsea – smooooth. I looked up at Vaughn who was staring at the cup in disgust before giggling even more. He looked up at me and a smirk crept onto his face.

"I'm guessing you didn't like it?" I asked smirking, my tongue now back in its rightful position. He pushed the cup away before shaking his head.

"I'd rather drink a carrot smoothie than have that again" He smirked before pushing his hat up slightly to reveal his eyes. I laughed before pushing my drink aside.

"You don't like carrots?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow at him. He shook his head just as a stray piece of hair fell into his vision.

"Worst things you could ever eat" He replied as he pushed the hair away. I gazed into his deep purple eyes before smiling at him warmly.

"It's like me with coffee" I mumbled, pulling my eyes away from his as my stomach knotted and my heart rate rose. His face was so well-defined and proportioned it was surreal, he was actually quite handsome. Whoa, whoa, whoa – stop. Do not carry those thought on any more Chelsea.

The smell of melting cheese and tomato sauce suddenly pilled the air as Nick came back with a large tray balanced on one arm and a bowl on the other. He placed the bowl in front of Vaughn before sticking a full 16" pizza smack bang on the table in front of me. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I saw how big it was, I thought I was going to get a slice never mind a whole pizza. I looked up at Vaughn who was staring at my face, reading me.

"Hungry?" He asked, a slight smile flashing in his eyes. I rolled my eyes at him before picking up a slice.

"I was going to offer you one but now, I'm just going to eat it all" I joked as I pretended to flick my hair over my shoulder and point my noise into the air. My stomach growled as I brought the delicious slice up to my lips and took a deep bite out of it. Vaughn chuckled quietly before taking hold of the spoon and placing it into what looked like cold rice pudding. As I engulfed the whole slice in the matter of seconds I looked up at Vaughn and smiled.

"Rice pudding for super?" I asked as I pulled off another slice. He looked up at me from under his black cowboy hat which caused my stomach to knot again.

"Porridge, I love it" He said as his gaze clung to mine. Wasn't porridge breakfast food? I shrugged it off before biting into another slice of pizza.

After I'd demolished three quarters of my pizza I slouched back in my chair and stared at the rest. Meanwhile Vaughn had finished his and was watching me forcing in as much cheese, tomato and dough as possible in amusement. I had to finish it; no way was I going to leave any of it … it was just too nice. I brought up another slice to my lips before groaning and turning to look at Vaughn.

"Giving up yet?" He asked, smirking slightly. I rolled my eyes before taking a deep bite and swallowing as soon as it hit my tongue. My plan – if I didn't chew then it seemed like I didn't eat as much right?

"Nope" I narrowed my eyes as I forced another bite down my throat. I bet he was loving this, loving watching me suffer. He rolled his eyes before ripping off a slice and bringing it up to his own lips. I smirked; I knew he couldn't watch me suffer for long.

"I thought you enjoyed watching me die from pizza overload" I mumbled as I threw the crust to the side and clutching my overfilled stomach.

"I did, but it got too painful" He replied as he finished off his slice before taking another one. Looking down at the plate, I gazed at the last slice that looked up at me. Growling at it I picked it up, rolled it into a small pizza role before inhaling the whole thing. Finally I had finished! Money well spent as well, I wouldn't have to eat for a week. Closing my eyes I leant back in my chair and sighed, thank god that was over, after the sixth slice it started to get overbearing.

Nick scuttled over holding a little notepad as he wrote down the check. I lazily opened an eye and looked around, it was just me and Vaughn left in the diner now. I hope we hadn't kept him open too long, he must have been watching us, begging for us to go. I smiled at him guiltily before smirking slightly.

"There we are" He smiled as he placed it down on the table. I reached out to get it but Vaughn had it in his hands quicker than I could blink. He pulled out some money from his back pocket before handing it to Nick who took it gracefully. I frowned at him.

"Hey I can pay for myself" I grumbled as I pulled out my rucksack. Vaughn stood up out of his chair before turning to face me.

"I know" He muttered before motioning towards the door. I steadily got up out of my chair and frowned at him, why was he doing this. I was perfectly capable enough to buy and pay for my own food. And considering it was a pretty big pizza, I'm guessing it cost a bomb. He was outside before I had the chance to argue. I knitted my eyebrows together before following him. It was dark outside, like really dark. I guessed I'd spent more time in the diner than I'd actually realised.

Vaughn was hovering a few paces away for me. I rolled my eyes before joining him and prodding his arm lightly.

"You shouldn't have paid for me" I muttered as I looked into his deep amethyst eyes which still glistened despite the fact there was no light coming from the sky. He rolled his eyes before resting them back on mine.

"Call it a debt – you can repay it anytime you want" He mumbled. I narrowed my eyes before laughing at him.

"Well I guess this is goodnight cowboy and thanks for the food" I chuckled before turning around and heading towards my farm. I only took three paces before a warm hand wrapped themselves around my wrist. I paused and turned around to look at Vaughn who's eyes searched mine.

"It's dangerous for women to walk around alone at this time of night …" He let go of my arm slowly, the tips of his fingers brushing against my skin. I looked up into his eyes before nodding and swallowing. The moonlight shone down on his face, showing his silver hair feathering the top of his shoulders.

He began walking forward, staying at my side the whole time. Then we got to the bridge, that stupid fucking bridge. Vaughn stepped on it with ease while I clung to the side and paused, taking in a deep breath. He turned to face me with his eyebrows knitted together. I swallowed hard and placed a foot on the wood but my heart stood still in my chest.

"Are you alright?" He asked, taking a step closer to me. I smiled reassuringly but didn't open my eyes.

"I'm perfectly fine. It's just … I'm not a big fan of bridges" I swallowed again, opening an eye to look at his expression. He was smirking. I narrowed my eyes before taking a deep breath.

"Turn around" I ordered, staring at him. He frowned but did as I said.

"Walk off the bridge and wait there" I mumbled. Watching him get to the other side I let go and quickly crawled to the other side. Vaughn looked down at me and supressed a smirk as I stood up and dusted myself down.

"Don't say anything" I muttered before walking to the front door of my house. I fumbled around in my pocket before pulling out a key to unlock it.

"See I'm perfectly fine, I didn't get mauled by dogs or get attacked by a rapist" I rolled my eyes as I turned around. He was standing close to me … very close in fact. I could feel his cool breath on my face as I looked up into his eyes.

"It's because I was there" He said, not changing the emotion on his face. I couldn't reply, my heart beat so fast I swear he could hear it. I smiled before placing the key in the lock and turning.

"Yeah so thanks again …" I smiled before opening the door and stepping inside. He bowed the top of his hat in my direction before stepping back and turning around. I watched him disappear into the night before closing the door behind me and narrowing my eyes. Stupid cowboy, thinks he's so cool. Wait till the next time I see him.

**Yeah so that's it hehe :D Chelsea and Vaughn kinda half 'date' ;) I hope you liked it and please don't forget to review :D Stay tuned x**


	11. Spring 14th

**Okay guys, so I was writing and couldn't think of anything so this is a filler chapter until next time. I hope you still enjoy reading it anyway and please don't forget to review. Disclaimer – I still don't own Harvest moon or any of its characters.**

One Last Dance – Chapter 11

Chelsea's P.O.V

_His deep amethyst eyes pierced through mine as he took a step closer. I closed my eyes and inhaled the strong scent of hay that filled my nostrils. My heart ran to my throat as his hand delicately brushed up against the curve in my back, sending my stomach to flutter like butterflies. He was sanding so close, I could feel his sweet cool breath on my face, his perfectly thin lips inches away from mine. I opened my eyes again and gasped quietly, his nose brushed against mine before I looked back up into his eyes. I opened my mouth to speak to him, to engage him in conversation but he brushed a finger over my lips and shushed me._

_ "Don't talk" He murmured as he leant down, his lips less than an inch from mine. I could feel his heart beat alongside mine, fast and erratic, threatening to burst open with the slightest touch. His hand pressed firmly against the slender groove of my back as his other hand stroked my hip. His lips were thin and inviting, begging for me to join them, calling for me. My breath picked up just as his mouth closed the little gap left between us, his hand clutching my back. _

A sharp knock pulled me back into the real world. I slowly opened my eyes, my heart still beating fast from the weirdest dream I'd ever had. Frowning I rubbed my head to try and dismiss the images that set in my brain like hot solder. Why the hell were you dreaming of that Chelsea? I growled before rolling out of bed and opening the front door.

"Hey poverty farmer, let me in" Mark laughed before stepping inside and jumping on the couch. I growled at him before narrowing my eyes.

"Hey don't get your AIDS on my couch" I retaliated as I shut the door. Mark narrowed his eyes at me before nodding at my comeback. He knew I was just too awesome to beat. Rolling my eyes I walked over to him before plunking myself right next to him and swinging my legs over onto his knees. Vaughn's eyes pierced my brain as I shook my head to get rid of him. Get out, get out, get out. Stupid cowboy.

"What do ya need?" I asked, trying to stay focused on Mark's babyish looking face. He grinned widely before pulling out a parcel. I frowned before opening it up and smelling the delicious cookies presented before me.

"Considering that I'm not particularly interested in the female species, I thought I'd give my best mate some" He winked, digging his elbow into my sides. I rolled my eyes but frowned.

"And why are you giving me cookies?" I asked, completely confused by the gift but happy to accept it none the less. I brought one up to my mouth and bit into it, letting the rich chocolate flavour run down my throat – they were still warm.

"It's spring harmony day idiot" He laughed as he rolled his eyes at me. I knitted my eyebrows together and looking into his deep emerald ones. Spring harmony day? Sounded like some weird hippy festival. He pushed my feet of his legs to look at me properly.

"You don't know what spring harmony day is?" He asked, completely taken aback by my lack of knowledge. Listen where I came from there was no spring harmony day.

"Doesn't look like it" I smiled, raising an eyebrow. He rolled his eyes before taking one of the cookies he brought me.

"Well it's a kind of tradition around here, guys give girls cookies to show that they love them" He laughed as he took a bite of the sweet, warm chocolate cookie. I looked down at the chocolate cookies on my lap and shot Mark a sweet smile.

"Well I'm flattered" I laughed as I brought him into a hug. He chuckled before pushing me off and rolling his eyes. I looked outside the window, the sun danced on my corps which were now growing nicely with lush green leaves. It didn't look like it was going to rain anytime soon; this week was going to be busy. I turned back to look at mark, his bright green eyes lit up the room.

"Considering you woke me up" I smiled, standing up of the sofa before turning back to face him, "Fancy helping make breakfast?" I asked, flicking my eyes over to the sorry looking kitchen which hadn't been used all that much since I'd been here. He grinned before jumping up and walking over to the kitchen. Best thing about having Mark around? He made awesome food.

Vaughn's P.O.V

The front door opened as a gust of fresh air blew inside. My hands were full with paperwork I'd only just finished after staying up all night, the part of the job I hated. There was a sharp cough behind me as the customer slammed their fist onto the server bell again. I growled under my breath, stupid fucking customers.

"I'll be there in a minute" I mumbled from inside the office, just barely loud enough for them to hear. Placing the heavy paper down, the bell rang again. I turned around and narrowed my eyes, were they fucking deaf? Storming out of the room I walked up to the desk and glared at the stubby guy stood in front of me. He was around 5 foot 7 and had a large beer belly which hung over the edge of his pants as if he was up the duff.

"What?" I asked, not bothering with customer service, who the hell paid attention anyway? The man in front of me grumbled deeply from under his moustache before staring at me.

"How much will a cow be then?" He asked, shoving his hands in his pockets before coughing … All. Over. The. Counter. I narrowed my eyes, glaring at him.

"I'm sorry. If you would like to purchase a cow I will need you to fill out these forms if you are a new customer" I replied, keeping my voice low and quiet. He huffed, pulling his hands back out of his pockets before placing them onto the counter and leaning forward. I could smell the strong scent of stale whisky fill the air as his breath loomed. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist as he looked up at me.

"Listen boy. I'm an old friend of Nick, we have an … arrangement" He grumbled, the fibres of his moustache dancing at the vibration of his voice. I sighed before stepping back ever so slightly.

"_Nick _left three months back. Turns out he'd been embezzling funds, so if you want to pay him a visit he's in Parkhurst prison" I finished, staring at the old man in front of me. His expression suddenly dropped to shell shock, causing me to hide a smirk.

"Turns out I didn't need a cow after all" He mumbled before pivoting on the spot and rushing out of the door. I smirked to myself, thank you and come again. Sighing I returned back into my office and closed the door behind me before flicking my gaze over to the calendar, Spring 14. This time last year … well it hardly mattered any more. Spring Harmony day, waste of fucking time. A pathetic excuse for soppy guys to spend hours baking the perfect cookies for girls who didn't want to eat them in fear of 'losing their figure'. Grumbling I took a seat in my desk chair before staring at the piles of paperwork completed and comparing it to the new pile that sat neatly on the corner of the desk. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting my brain have at least two minutes of rest.

Her eyes flashed into view, the sun revealing the deep sapphire blue inside. Her long chestnut coloured hair clung to her face as the wind blew gently across the ground. She smiled, flashing a smile of pure white teeth.

I shook my head before opening my eyes, I couldn't rest anywhere.

Then another pair of eyes clouded my vision, vicious brown ones. They pierced into mine as her pink hair fell to her shoulders. Accusation shot through her pupils as they stabbed me like poisoned blades.

I clenched my fist as her name burned my skin – Natalie.

I stood up and strode back out of the room; I needed to get some rest. I picked up the keys off the table before walking out of the door and locking it securely behind me. Walking up the street I stared at the pavement, forcing any thoughts I had in my head to oblivion. I was fucked up, completely and utterly fucked.

Around me, people busied themselves with getting to work or running errands, completely ignoring their surroundings. I hated people. I guess some would label me as anti-social but I didn't believe in labels.

Sighing, I took my hat off before running my hand through my long silver hair. What kind of sick bastard invented silver hair? I was 28 years old for crying out loud. Luckily for me – in school there was a kid with pink hair so the attention was driven away from me.

A man brushed past me as a big bouquet of flowers hit me. He turned around to look at me with pure dread set in his face. I narrowed my eyes, glaring at him which caused him to flinch slightly.

"I'm sorry" He mumbled before turning around and rushing back off, clutching a box of cookies in his hands while the now slightly squished flowers in the other. I grumbled before turning back around and stopping dead in the street, people pushing past me to get to their destinations.

Last year … that would have been me. I brought my hands up to my face and sighed, so much had changed.

"Don't just stand there then" An unhappy guy grumbled as he pushed past me. I looked up at him and growled before crossing the road to the opposite side of the street.

A blue pair of eyes played on the edge of my mind as I thought back to those stupid islands. What was it about her that made her appear in my head all the time? She wasn't special, she was just a frickin' farmer.

Chelsea's P.O.V

Mark jokingly dusted off his hands as he placed a plate of toast and two chucky eggs in front of me. I licked my lips before snatching up a piece of toast and placing it in the rich creamy yolk. Being a farmer and a lover of animals I'm guessing you thought I'd be completely repulsed by devouring the unborn, but they were just so damn tasty. Mark chuckled at my expression before taking the seat opposite me and grinning widely.

"You still on for Monday?" He asked, eyeing me carefully. I swallowed my food before racking my brain, oh yeah, it was the beach party.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it even if a giant tsunami washed everyone up …" I smirked before taking another bit of toast. I frowned for a second before looking back up into his eyes.

"Too much?" I asked, a little disturbed by my own images. He chuckled before nodding. I rolled my eyes at him, roll on Monday – never thought I'd ever say that.

**And here is the end of a filler, sorry about the long wait but I hope you stick around for the next update which should be a lot more interesting ;)**

**Thanks to – HarvestMoonLover, Kokiricat and Karisma Jester for the reviews so far :D and thanks to everyone who's favourite my story :D Till next time. **


	12. Let's get this party started

**Heya people, thankfully I posted this chapter quicker than the last one :D Thanks for the reviews and follows, and thanks to all of you silent people reading my story too ;) Enjoy, this one should be more fun … I hope :P Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters. **

One Last Dance – Chapter 12

Chelsea's P.O.V

"Julia I'm not wearing it!" I yelled through the closed backroom door, my hand securely on the handle so no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get in. She groaned from outside before letting go of the handle and slamming her back against the door.

"Come on Chels it's not going to be that bad" She pleaded, her voice muffled from the thickness of the wooden door. I growled at her before narrowing my eyes.

"Don't you have anything else?" I asked, taking a sideways glance to the mirror before cringing horrifically - I looked like a drag queen.

"No, that is the last thing I have for you to try on and it's not even that short" She replied, trying the handle once more. I growled before running a hand through my hair in annoyance. Why did I agree to this? I knew it was going to be a disaster from the minute she turned up on my doorstep. Sighing, I slowly let go of the warm handle and stood in front of the full length mirror. Standing in front of me was a man trying to look like a women, shove into a skimpy black bikini which revealed a whole lot of ass. It only occurred to me now that I had actually put on a few pounds staying here; I guess it was all of Nick's food.

I glared at the handle as it timidly pulled down just before Julia poked her nose through the little crack to look at me. I glared at her and narrowed my eyes, you did this to me.

"What are you talking about? You look fine" She grinned before standing next to me in the mirror. I looked at her reflection, her baby blue eyes smiling at me warmly. I looked back down at my body, the cup size was way too big for me so I had to practically strangle myself as I tied it behind me.

"You'd better swim after all of this" Julia giggled before rolling her eyes and leaving. I growled at her before shutting the door and putting a long cream maxi dress over the top, yet another 'outfit' Julia was lending me today. Sighing, I opened the door and looked over at Julia who was already wearing her purple maxi dress with bright yellow straps sticking out of the top.

"Come on" She grinned as she grabbed hold of my hand before yanking me towards the door, this was going to be fun.

Ten minutes later we were past the bridge and on our way to the beach when Julia let go of my hand and dashed back towards her house.

"I'll be back in a minute, go and set up in the sun" She called as she chucked me her towel. I only just barely caught it in my right hand as I balanced my blue one in the other. Rolling my eyes I tucked them both under my arm before heading back towards the beach where Mark was ordering Elliot where to get the best sunlight. I smiled and waved at him as he ran over towards me.

"Hey" He smiled as he took both of the towels out of my arms. I smiled at him before walking over towards the large rock where Mark helped me roll out the towels.

"I never thought of you to be a bikini type of gal" He laughed as he pulled back one of the straps as let it go. I glared at him before playfully punching his in the arm.

"Julia found out I didn't own any so I had my very own fashion show." I smirked sarcastically. He rolled his eyes before Natalie strolled onto the beach, fully clothed. I gawped at her, how was she not hot? I mean I know it was only spring but it was still bloody hot.

"Natalie!" Mark exclaimed before running over to her and directing her over towards Elliot. I watched him point to a space just next to Elliot which Natalie growled loudly to. Mark wore bright blue combat designed trunks which danced around his knee. His chest was well defined with a little six-pack poking out from under his fair skin, too bad he was gay. Rolling my eyes I changed my gaze to Elliot who wore a baggy green top and three quarter cream pants, completely how I'd imagined he would come.

Just then Julia hopped into view, tagging a grumpy looking cowboy alongside her. I laughed at his expression, she'd cornered him as well, must be some form of blackmail. She waved at me before dragging him over to where our two towels sat side by side.

"Hey cowboy, my previous suspicion of you being a vampire is now completely gone, congratulations" I smirked as Julia took a seat next to me before patting the ground for Vaughn to sit down. He glared at Julia before obeying her orders, yep, it had to be blackmail. I looked back at Natalie and Elliot. Natalie was staring in our general direction but I had the feeling that it wasn't at me or Julia. Rolling my eyes I turned to Julia who had taken off her dress and was now soaking in the hot UV rays from the sun.

"Julia!" Elliot called, smiling at his girlfriend. She blushed slightly before standing up and turning to face me.

"Erm … keep my place warm" She grinned before bounding off down the beach. To be honest it was a miracle she stayed in her really skimpy bikini. Rolling my eyes I laughed, trying to avoid looking at Vaughn. He budged slightly so hit butt was firmly on Julia's towel as we looked out into the distance.

"So what's she blackmailing you with?" I asked, turning to face him slightly. Bam, I was sucked in, his deep purple eyes looked at me, drawing in all my frickin' attention. I grazed over his features, without his hat he was quite attractive. I moved my gaze down his body, his toned chest which glistened in the sun, his plain black trunks.

"She hid my hat …" He mumbled, turning his gaze away from me and towards the sea. I did the same but smirked, I knew it was blackmail. The sun was warm and gentile on my soft skin but I wouldn't take this fugly dress off, no matter what. Mark suddenly rushed back over to us and dropped to his knees, his eyes lingering over Vaughn for a second too long. I smirked, so my eyes weren't playing tricks on me.

"I promised Felicia that I'd ask everyone if they were wearing sun-cream" He muttered quietly before looking back at Vaughn. He just stared at him with a blank expression spread across his face.

"I take that as a yes" Mark chuckled, obviously knowing no one here would be wearing sunblock … apart from Elliot.

"And you, if you don't take that dress off today I will tell Julia that her efforts will be for nothing" He smirked before getting back up and walking off. I narrowed my eyes before mumbling 'bastard' under my breath. If that had been said out of context it would have sounded dirty as hell. I turned back to Vaughn and smiled awkwardly, his eyes searching mine.

Julia walked over to the ocean with Elliot in her hand. I smirked, Elliot looked nervous as hell.

"You worried about your cousin?" I asked, nodding towards Julia and Elliot. He smirked slightly before shaking his head.

"Why would I be worried?" He asked, leaning back onto his hands and stretching out his legs. I copied him, but my legs stopped about a foot shorter than his.

"I dunno it's like that sibling/family thing about partners" I laughed as Julia turned to face him and poor Elliot's cheeks burned bright red. Vaughn looked over at them before shaking his head again.

"I don't think I have anything to worry about" He smirked. I joined in, Elliot would never have the balls to do anything. I think it might be one of those relationships where Julia wore the pants of the house. But it was clear to say they were crazy about each other, cute yet sickly … very, very sickly.

Mark waved at us before chucking over two cans which landed just a few centimetres away from our towels. I raised my hand and stuck my thumb up before reaching forward and taking hold of the two cool cans in my hands. I passed one to Vaughn where our hands brushed against each other and caused my cheeks to burn slightly. Looking down I looked at the beer, Lager. Who the fuck got lager; it was cider all the way for this girl. I opened the top none the less and took a large swig out of it, fist alcoholic drink I'd had in three weeks. And it felt good, despite the fact it was frickin' lager. I looked down at my drink before smirking and turning my whole body round so I faced Vaughn.

"Race ya" I smirked as I crossed my legs. He looked down at the can in his hands before smirking slightly in reply.

"You're on" He said before placing the cold can against his thin lips. I did the same as I took big, determined swigs of the dark liquid. After just thirty seconds I smiled and wiped my mouth before looking up at Vaughn. His can was resting in the sand next to him as he looked at me with a slight smirk on his face. Bastard. I narrowed my eyes before placing my can delicately on the ground next to me.

"You win" I mumbled, staring him dead in the eye. He sat there, gazing into my eyes, the purple within glistened in the spring sun, reflecting my own reflection. My stomach knotted as I drank in his features, from his blinding silver hair to the slight trace of stubble on his jawline. It may have been the beer thinking and not so much me but he was looking extremely attractive … like mega wow. His toned body shone in the light as I traced his stomach.

"Chelsea" A little voice whispered, snapping me right out of my daze and causing me to blush. Chelsea you are utterly fucked up. I looked up to see Sabrina peeking out behind the building, blushing red. I shot Vaughn a 'move-your-arse' look before standing up and walking over to Sabrina who stood in her usual purple dress and baby pink cardigan. I looked at her as if she was mad before smiling warmly, masking my gormless expression.

"Hey Sabs, aren't you hot in that?" I asked, staring at her long sleeves. She paused for a second before nodding.

"My black hair d-draws in the heat and I get r-really hot" She mumbled quietly before scratching her left arm. I rolled my eyes before peeking around the corner to make sure no one could see us.

"Do you have your suit on underneath?" I asked. She blushed slightly before nodding and pushing her glasses up with her for finger. Her black eye had subsided and was now mellowing out to a more yellowish colour, barely noticeable against her pale skin.

"Just take your dress off then" I smiled warmly, trying to be that one friend with the advice … too bad Julia wasn't here. She blushed deeper before shaking her head.

"I c-can't" She stuttered, playing with her hands awkwardly. I sighed before placing my hand on my hips and looking down at my own dress. Was it worth the sacrifice? I looked back at Sabrina who was sweating like a pig in that stupid purple dress of hers. Sighing I pulled up my own dress over the black bikini and handed it to her.

"Here, just put this on then" I grumbled, a little annoyed how it had to be me who handed over the precious piece of cloth. She looked down at it before flashing me a smile.

"A-are you sure?" She asked, a little less timid than before. I rolled my eyes and nodded before turning my back for her to get changed.

A couple of minutes later she tapped me on the back. I turned around to face her and smiled warmly, there, much better. She neatly folded up her dress before placing it on the ground outside Gannon's before turning back to me. I smiled at her before taking hold of her hand and pulling her into the sunlight. She nervously walked behind me as I led her to the two towels which now sat on their own next to the big rock. She nervously sat down as I looked around the beach to see where that stupid cowboy had gone. He was stood at the edge of the sea, the water coming up to his ankles. I rolled my eyes before turning back to Sabrina who was shifting awkwardly in her seat.

I sat down next to her just as Mark reappeared, jeeze I wish this guy would stay still.

"I knew you'd take that thing off in the end" He laughed before turning to Sabrina.

"It's nice of you to come" He smiled warmly as he knelt down in front of me.

"Swimming time" He winked, placing his hand on my wrist. I growled before shaking my head, over my dead body. He then jumped up and pushed me backwards before pinning my arms behind my head. I narrowed my eyes before trying to escape, but he sat on my legs, forcing me down into the sand.

"I'm not letting you get up till you come swimming with me" He grumbled before sticking his bottom lip out. I looked into his eyes as I struggled with my arms again.

"Mark, _Hunny_" I spat the supposedly sweet word. "From where everyone else is sitting – this position is very strange looking" I smiled sweetly, both of his legs at either side of my body. If he wasn't gay I would have already kicked him in the bollocks, but because he was my best friend – I thought I'd humour him. He rolled his eyes at me before rolling off to the side. I killed him with kindness as I jokingly brushed my stomach off.

"Cunt" I mumbled, taking a sideways glance at Mark who crossed his arms and pouted. I closed my eyes and stretched out as Mark stood up.

"I guess I'll just have to take you to the water them" He smirked before wrapping his arms around me and shoving me over his shoulder. I growled and squirmed but no matter how much I tried, I could release his grip on me.

"Mark I swear to god, if my arse has popped out of this thing I will personally make sure there will be no chance you will be able to have kids" I threatened, prodding his armpit to test if he was ticklish. He chuckled before patting my butt twice.

"You're all right" He smirked. I growled just as I felt the cool sea rush to my legs. He pulled me around before dropping me into the sea. My head plummeted under the surface as the salty water stung my eyes. I mouthed 'bastard' under the water before swimming for his legs as poking him. Coming up to the surface I took in a big gulp of air before turning to face Mark who was laughing in hysterics.

I looked towards Vaughn who was glaring at Mark with deep piercing eyes. Thank you – someone who shared my views. Rolling my eyes I quickly mermaid swam over to the silver haired cowboy and stood up. Before he saw me I quickly checked I hadn't popped out in any which way just before walking up to him, my hair completely coving my whole face.

He switched his attention from Mark to me where a loud smirk emanated from his lips. He brought his hand up to my face and delicately pushed my wet hair out of my eyes so he could see me. As soon as my eyes found his my heart ran up to my throat, causing me to choke slightly. Damn, why did he do that to me? His hand lingered as he tucked my hair behind my ear before I broke the gaze and turned to look at the horizon, my heart beating erratically in my chest. Slow down … slow the fuck down. But no matter how much I swore mentally, it still hummed in my chest. Like a frickin hummingbird.

I smirked to myself before turning to face Vaughn but slowly walking back into the ocean, keeping my eyes directly on his.

"Don't tell me you can't swim cowboy" I smirked before I lost my footing and I had to tread the water. He rolled his eyes before shaking his head at me.

"I can, I just prefer not to" He mumbled, reaching up for his cowboy hat that wasn't there. I rolled my eyes before diving under the water, it had to be said – I was a pretty good damn swimmer. I smirked to myself before looking up at Vaughn's shadow that danced on the water's surface.

In split seconds I jumped out of the water and grabbed hold of his hand, he turned to me in shock just in time for to smirk at him and pull him into the cool ocean. I swam away, still holding his hand as I dragged him further out to sea. When I had no air left in my lungs I pushed myself up and broke the surface of the water, taking in a big breath of air. I turned around, just in time to see Vaughn emerge from the sea. Neither of us could stand up here, goes to show how deep it was. Vaughn's hair covered his face and came up to the bottom of his nose. I laughed before swimming over to him and, using both hands, pushed his fringe out of his eyes.

"Well at least we know you can swim. Helpful information if the apocalypse happened early" I laughed, pushing him away before treading water again. He rolled his eyes before staring at me.

"How would swimming help in an apocalypse?" He asked, his voice velvety and smooth. I drank in his words before thinking. Actually – how would it help in an apocalypse?

"When the zombies are chasing us, we will have to cross the big river dividing the none-infected and infected" I replied, smiling at my answer.

"You never said it was a zombie apocalypse" He smirked before swimming ever so slightly closer to me. I smiled at him, his deep purple eyes finding mine once again. His hair was dripping wet and stuck up where I had pushed it back. He was too frickin' damn hot for his own good … stupid cowboy.

**Feeling, so many feelings ;) Aha, I hope you liked this Chapter and please review :D I might not be able to post anything for a while, got loads of exams in the next two weeks but I'll try and squeeze it in anyways :P Until next time – ciao. **


	13. Number One in Drowning

**Hey guys, I'm so sorry about the long update. I'm not sure if I'm happy with this chapter but I'm gonna post it anyway for you lovely people. Thanks for all the reviews and everything :-) Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters, enjoy.**

Chapter 13 – Chelsea's P.O.V

His eyes found mine as a slight smile danced at the corner of his mouth. Suddenly music coming from the beach erupted and broke through the air like fierce bullets. I jumped before snorting a shit load of water up my nose and chocking like an idiot. The cool salt water burnt my throat as Vaughn swam over to me and delicately wrapped his arms around me so I didn't have to tread the water any more.

"You're not great with water are you?" He asked as he began to make his way back to shore. I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes before looking at him.

"I came first in the under 10's 500m competition …" I pouted before realising that was 15 years ago … damn I was getting old. Vaughn chuckled quietly before I managed to wiggle free out of his grasp and stand on my own two feet. The water came up to my belly button as I quickly checked my butt was still inside the thin piece of material, it was.

"Well if there was a competition for drowning I'm sure you'd come first" He smirked just as my feet touched up against the warm sand. The sun rays burnt my skin as I accidently brushed up against Vaughn, allowing our arms to touch gently. I probably would have blushed but to be honest my nasal passage was on fire and stopped all the blood flowing to my cheeks. I rolled my eyes before turning to face him and raising an eyebrow.

"So Mr Cowboy, we've found out that you can swim … but can you dance?" I asked, smirking as his little smile dropped from his face completely. I backed towards the huge speakers and docking station which was hooked to an extension lead coming out of Denny's shack while keeping my eyes firmly on Vaughn's.

"Everyone get your arses here or I'll terrorise you forever" Mark yelled from the speakers where he stood wiggling his arms high in the air. Seriously? No one had noticed he was gay? I mean it was lay down right there, what kind of straight guy would dance like that? I watched Elliot nervously stretch out his hand towards Julia who squealed before pulling him to where Mark was still dancing. Sabrina awkwardly stood up and walked to the big group, probably mostly in fear of being 'terrorised', I rolled my eyes. I turned back to Vaughn and smirked as he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Let's go" I laughed as I reached out and grabbed his wrist, dragging him towards the loud music. Ironically it was 'Sex on the Beach – Vengaboys', I turned to Mark and knitted my eyebrows together but he just laughed while wiggling his butt.

"Don't knock it 'till you try it" He called over to me as Elliot's face burned bright pink. I smirked as I turned back to Vaughn before shrugging and wiggling my butt; I guess if you couldn't beat them you might as well join them.

"I wanna have sex on the beach" Everyone sang, apart from Vaughn and Sabrina. I held my hand out to Vaughn who grabbed it as I span myself around so my back was against his bare chest before spinning back out and dancing to the soft Caribbean melody.

Finally the music slowly died down and a softer song came on. I smirked as I turned back to Vaughn while everyone else retook their previous places apart from Natalie who continued to stare at me from her little corner. I frowned before shaking it off.

"So you liking the human interactions?" I asked, raising my eyebrow slightly as we walked back over to where Sabrina had sat back down. He stayed silent for a second before replying.

"I'm not that much of a people person" He murmured, returning to his usual cool self as Sabrina looked up at us.

"Well I think you're doing very well then" I muttered sarcastically before winking at him and sitting back down next to Sabrina.

"Are you liking the party then?" I asked, hoping at least one of my friends wasn't a complete anti-socialite. She nodded nervously before scratching at her arm again. I looked up at Vaughn before mushing my lips into a thin line; he was looking down at me – his deep purple eyes finding mine. I broke the stare by looking back at Sabrina. Her sleeve rolled down slightly and an angry red cut poked out from underneath. I looked up at her but she just pushed her sleeve back and looked at the ground. Narrowing my eyebrows together I looked up at Vaughn before darting my eyes to the other end of the beach where Julia was taking large strides towards us. I smirked quietly just before she tapped Vaughn on the shoulder. Immediately his face dropped as he turned around to look at his blond cousin.

"Could you help us with the gazebo? We need an extra pair of hands" She asked sweetly, cocking her head to the side to look at him at a better angle. Vaughn grumbled for a second before looking back at her and nodding reluctantly. Damn he must love that hat of his. I watched them both walk away before turning back to Sabrina who was wriggling awkwardly under my gaze.

"Sabrina …" I paused, unsure how to approach this – and this was my speciality as well, inspector Chelsea. I could have my own theme tune, dun dun dun dun dun Inspector Chelsea dun dun dun dun dun dun dunnnn – not a total rip of Inspector Gadget at all pftt.

"What's that?" I asked, looking back down at her arm. Sure I guess I could have done it more smoothly but one thing's for sure – smooth was not my middle name, it was more like … not-smooth. Yes, creativity was my strong point.

Sabrina shifted awkwardly again as I stared at her arm. Damn I was crap at this, what the fuck was I supposed to do though? I couldn't exactly pretend I hadn't seen anything.

"Sabrina you know you can tell me if something's up. I mean I am in no position to judge and I swear, it can stay between you and me … I promise" I murmured quietly, even though everyone else was at the other side of the beach and there was no way any of them could hear us. I switched my gaze over to them. All of the guys were awkwardly pulling and pushing a huge gazebo across the sand, trying to pull the cover over the top. It was actually really funny to watch and if it wasn't for Sabrina I probably would have been pissing myself right now.

"C…Chelsea...?" Sabrina asked quietly, bringing my attention back to her. She looked up at me with her soft purple eyes, trying to mentally tell me something but unfortunately – I wasn't telepathic. I slowly reached for her arm and gently pulled up her sleeve where dozens of red raw scratches lead up her for-arm, a few of them bleeding. I stared at them, a sense of nausea flowing over me as I turned back to face Sabrina who had tears forming in her eyes. I reached forward and brought her into a hug where she let out a sob into my chest, a little awkward considering I was in a bikini. I stroked her hair in comfort as a few tears rolled down her face. I thought of every single helpful comment I could think of but couldn't think of a single one that could help.

"P…Promise you won't tell a s…soul" She stuttered as she pulled away and brushed the tears off her face before pulling down her sleeve again. I sighed before glancing at everyone down the beach who were completely oblivious to what was happening … I would give anything to not be the one in this situation.

"I promise but Sabrina … please talk to me" I murmured quietly. She shook her head as tears tumbled down her face. I sat still and quiet, unsure what to say. I stood up slowly before holding out my hand to her.

"Come on" I smiled as she placed her hand in mine as I pulled her up. She frowned before wiping away the rest of her tears.

"Where are w...we going?" She asked as I walked back to Gannon's to pick up her clothes. I shrugged before walking down the path in long stride towards Verdure Island. The truth was I had no idea where the hell we were going but I had to think of something quickly.

**Yup so that's pretty much it :P I hoped you liked it, still not sure if I'm completely happy with it but I had to post something :D Thanks for all the support and please don't forget to review – stay tuned. **


	14. Through the passage

**Hey guys, really sorry I haven't posted sooner I've just got back from a two hour train ride from London :P Anyways I hope you like this one – it's a little shorter than the rest but I've been in a bit of a hurry and so it might be a while for the next one. Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters.**

Chapter 14 – Chelsea's P.O.V

I strode through town, attempting to seek out somewhere to talk. Glancing towards Sabrina's huge mansion, I quickly dived to the side and grabbed Sabrina's hand to pull her in. Pushing my hand up against the warm wooden door I pushed and turned an immediate right. I guess some would think it was rude to barge into someone's house but I guess Sabrina might have felt safer in the own comfort of her home where she spent most of her time. I reached a wall and turned left before turning into a huge library. It took me a few moments to comprehend the actual size of the whole place but I shook my head and brushed it off. I pulled her down one of the isles before reaching a wall which I leant against to look back at Sabrina who was looking extremely tired all of a sudden.

"So come on, neither of us are leaving until you tell me what's going on because I …" I was interrupted by a sudden jolt from upstairs and a few heavy footsteps. All of the little colour in Sabrina's face suddenly drained as the footsteps grew heavier.

"Sabrina … is that you?" A firm voice asked. I'm guessing it was Regis, I wonder if he had any idea about any of this, maybe he could help. Sabrina suddenly jumped and pushed me to the side where I fell into the bookcase.

"What are you doing?" I asked but she stared at me to shut the fuck up. She pulled me towards a large bookcase which had quite a big cupboard at the bottom before opening it and shoving me inside.

"Just get i-in there and d-don't speak" She stuttered before pushing close the doors which clicked into place. Okay … so this was comfy. I couldn't tell if it was my elbow or my foot was digging into my rib, I only knew that it didn't exactly feel great. I manage to move so that I could peak out of the keyhole to witness whatever was happening right now because one thing was for sure – I had no fucking idea.

"Sabrina?" Regis asked, appearing at the door. His pointy nose pointed down as he closed the distance between him and his daughter. I squinted to try and get a better look but my foot was my my head and I couldn't get a better look if I tried.

"Hello f-father" She stuttered, staring at the ground before pushing up her glasses which slid down the bridge of her nose. Regis paused for a second before looking at her.

"You didn't finish all of the paperwork I set out for you" He spoke in an intimidate tone. I frowned as Sabrina began to sweat slightly. Gingerly she looked up at her father just as his hand came back and a slap echoed around the room. I gasped but shoved my fist into my mouth to make me shut up. Sabrina whimpered slightly as she clutched her red raw cheek.

"I'm s-sorry … I'll get right to i-it" She mumbled, her voice wobbling slightly. Regis slapper her again, another stomach-churning echo filling the room.

"And hide yourself, you look like a slag" He grumbled before turning on his heels and leaving the room. As soon as his footsteps softened and stopped I fell out of the cupboard onto my back, glad that I could breathe once again. I looked up at Sabrina who had tears streaming down her face, her hand clutching her arm as she scratched. I quickly jumped up and slowly puller her away from her delicate arm before pulling her into a hug. She sobbed into my shoulder as I squeezed her tightly, hushing and rocking her like a baby.

"Chelsea … you'd b-better go. I c-can't have company h-here" She stuttered, pulling away and looking at me. I nodded, not pushing her any more. I swear I will slap that son of a bitch if he touched her again, there had to be some way to help her. But then again, Sabrina let people use her as a doormat. Quickly she jumped out of the little yellow dress before replacing her own clothes again and handing it back to me.

"How do I get out then?" I asked as I slipped on the little yellow dress again, sounds stupid but I don't think the front door was the best option. She gave me a weak smile before nodding for me to follow her. We walked towards the stairs where a little door hid in the cracks of the old wood. With a steady hand she gently opened the secret door before standing aside for me to go in. I smiled widely; this house just got a hundred times cooler! Falling to my knees I began crawling through the little whole. Of course this would have matched to the part in the great escape when they pull themselves on the cart down the cave but I was just too fat and my arse got stuck in the door. Sabrina panicked behind me as the blood was rushing straight to my butt.

"I'm so s-sorry for what I'm a-about to do" Sabrina whispered quietly from behind me before placing her hands on my butt and squeezing me through the whole. As soon as I managed to wiggle myself through the gap she shut the door behind me, leaving me in the pitch black. Grumbling I fumbled my way through the tunnel, this was so not as cool as I thought it would have been. After a few minutes a slight ray of sun filled the air, lighting my path to the end.

I sighed in relief as a little wooden trap door appeared above me which I immediately pushed open. It wasn't like me to be claustrophobic but this was out of my comfort zone. As I stepped back out into the fresh warm air I inhaled deeply, smiling that I actually had enough room to breathe. The passage led to the bushes just by the side of her house and I'm guessing Regis didn't know about this. I stretched before stepping back onto the path where Mark came rushing towards me.

"I thought you'd left me !" He rolled his eyes before escorting me back to the beach. I laughed before punching him playfully in the stomach.

"Aww if you're in love with me Mark just say" I joked as my feet hit the warm sand again. He scowled before rolling his eyes.

"Nahh you're not my type of gal" He laughed as the steady beat of the music playing in the background rippled through my body.

"But I know who'd type of gal you are …" He murmured quietly as he nudged me to look over to Vaughn who was leant against the rock, carefully observing me from under his fringe. Suddenly I felt my cheeks burn bright red as I punched Mark … for real this time.

"Stop it – Vaughn isn't …" And I couldn't finish it off. Vaughn isn't loud, Vaughn isn't exactly great with emotions and Vaughn isn't into me. But I couldn't bring myself to say it because somewhere subliminally I guessed what Mark said was true. Shaking my head I mentally punched myself, shut the fuck up Chelsea … stupid cowboy. So deep in thought I accidently walked straight into a rock and stubbed my toe. I had the biggest urge to scream and swear at everything and everyone around me but I just bit my lip hard as my toe began to throb and turn a disgusting purpley colour.

"Bastard … fucking bastard" I whimpered under my breath, turning around to Vaughn who was smirking under his silver hair. I glared at him before casually limping off down the beach towards him. I could wrap my hands round that neck and strangle the bloody lights out of him if I wasn't so sure that he would floor me and bury me for the tide to take me away. As I got to him I sat down on the towel and in frustration crossed my arms across my body. He chuckled as he took the seat next to me and gently prodded my sore toe which had now swollen to double the size. I shot him a sideways glance in warning … the bastard. That's right just vent your anger out on Vaughn.

"Danger prone …" Vaughn muttered under his breath as he turned to face me. I shot him another glare but as I looked at him he was sat extremely close. I could feel his cool breath on my face as his deep amethyst eyes searched mine. His lips, so close I could reach them if I just moved my head. My stomach flipped … what a bastard. Don't kiss him, don't kiss him, don't kiss him Chelsea. I closed my eyes, if I stayed perfectly still maybe I wouldn't do it but his sweet scent of hay filled the air around me, almost pulling him in. You don't like him Chelsea, he's an anti-social stupid cowboy who pisses you off … damn. As our lips were about to connect the music suddenly erupted and filled the air, scaring the shit out of me and causing us to bump heads. I fell back onto the towel as I clutched my head, what the actual fuck Chelsea? I opened my eye to look over at the stereo where Natalie stood with her hand firmly on the volume button. Okay I could take a hint. Vaughn rubbed his head before chuckling and looking down at me lay on the towel groaning.

"See … accident prone" He smirked, gently tracing my right hand which lay still on the ground. How the hell could he act like nothing just happened? Maybe you just imagined it Chelsea … yeah like that was what happened. His touch on my skin sent my heart to beat quicker than it should, this couldn't be healthy.

Sighing I sat back up and faced Vaughn, dragging my eyes over his face. He was so difficult to read, I mean the thing with Mark I got straight away when no one else seemed to notice but Vaughn … there defiantly something behind those eyes – it frustrated me. Vaughn shot a sideways glance towards the stereo before grumbling under his breath. I would ask him what the deal was with Natalie but I was guessing it was a sensitive subject.

The pain in my toe had subsided as I gazed at Vaughn … he was too handsome, it was unfair.

"Chelsea!" Julia called from the other end of the beach. I lazily lifted my head to look at her and gave her a weak smile.

"You coming to the diner with us?" She asked, motioning to everyone around her. I shook my head before sitting up properly.

"I was thinking of heading home, I think I'm getting a headache" I replied as Vaughn smirked quietly. She pouted before nodding and standing to her feet. I turned back to Vaughn who stood up and held out a hand to me. I reluctantly took it before picking up the towels off the floor.

I turned around to walk back home and Vaughn followed. I stopped to look at him but he just stared at me.

"It's not illegal to walk you home now is it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me and sending my stomach into flips. Shaking my head I rolled my eyes as we began the journey home.

It didn't take too long to reach my little home all the while we walked in silence. I stopped at the bridge and peaked at Vaughn who already was across with his back to me … he knew me so well I chuckled to myself. Quickly crawling over, I stood back up right next to Vaughn who chuckled at me.

When we got to the front door I dropped the towels onto the floor before turning to face Vaughn who was staring at me intensely. He took a step closer before cupping a handful of my hair in his hand as he looked down at me and smiled slightly. I bit my lips as to tame it but no matter how hard I tried – I couldn't help it. As he bent down our lips connected. His lips were so warm and soft, it made me melt … like literally. I dragged my hand across his warm body, feeling every curve.

It felt like ages before I pulled away for air. Awkwardly I smiled at him before opening my door and flinging myself inside. Outside I heard Vaughn chuckle to himself.

"I'll see you around" He said before walking back down the path again. I fell down the door, prodding my lips with my forefinger. This time I defiantly hadn't imagined it, I had just kissed a cowboy!

**Finally ;) Yeah so … I hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to review please :D I think everyone's glad that the little scene with Vaughn and Chelsea finally happened ;) aha , See you later – ciao :P**


	15. Sleepless nights

**Hello people, here's yet another chapter for you guys :D Thank you for the reviews, follows and favourites – I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading. Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters. **

Chapter 15 – One Last Dance

Chelsea's P.O.V

I tossed and turned in my bed before growling under my breath and swinging my feet over the side. Rubbing my face in my hands I got up and walked straight to the kitchen, I hated it when I couldn't sleep. Yanking open the counter I stared at the empty shelves for a few minutes before closing it, walking over to the fridge which was even emptier and then returning to the cupboard I first opened just in case there was something there that wasn't before. Groaning I glanced over at the clock – 3:20AM. I had to get to sleep, if I didn't I wouldn't have any energy for the farm tomorrow. My eyes suddenly darted to the cupboard next to the sink where I kept all the medicine shit. Smirking to myself I bounded over and opened it wide to look at what lay inside. Grabbing the bottle of Benylin,, I began reading the side. Side effects; blah, blah, nausea, blah, drowsiness! I grinned and took out a spoon before shovelling down two spoonfuls of the disgusting tasting stuff and waiting for the effects to take place. Walking over to the table I pulled out a chair and smiled to myself. I watched the clock by the side of my bed, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 15 minutes … why the fuck am I still awake? Growling again I stood up and walked over to my bed before viciously jumping onto it and stuffing my face into the pillow. Stupid, stupid cowboy - have a guess why I can't sleep.

My heart sped up again as his face flashed into my view. Groaning I flipped in my bed again … bastard, I bet he was fast asleep in his bed not giving two thoughts about what happened.

Vaughn's P.O.V

I rolled over in bed before falling to the hard wooden floor with a thump. I just lay there for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling. Looking at the clock it read 3:35AM. Mumbling to myself I got up and sat on the end of my bed with my head in my hands. Why did she have to be frickin' annoying? Her little face with her baby freckles flashing into my head as soon as I was about to drift off to sleep. Her lips were so soft and warm; it caused my stomach to stir which was piss-annoying. I might be coming down with a bug or something.

Sighing to myself I got up, not bothering to touch the shirt draped over my desk, and left my bedroom. I strode over straight to the fridge where I pulled out a pint of milk which sat delicately smack bang in the centre. The cool metal burn my skin as my fingers brushed up against it, sending chills through my body. I ignored it before slamming it down on the counter and pulling out a pan from the cupboard. I wasn't the best cook in the world but at least I knew how to make warm milk when a remote island didn't have any fucking microwaves. In the city my whole diet was based on a frickin' microwave and I don't think I was exactly bent over in illnesses. Rolling my eyes I poured a steady amount into the pan before lighting the flame and resting my butt on the counter. I couldn't see much in the dark, hopefully that meant if anyone else was lurking in the shadows they couldn't see me either. Here I was standing in black joggers, no shirt and making hot milk like some weird overgrown baby. Smirking to myself I slowly stirred the cool milk around as it slowly began to heat up.

I thought back to Chelsea and her stupid fucking perfect hair that smelled of sweet lilies. The strange flurry in my stomach sent weird shivers down my spine … defiantly was coming down with something. Then a pair of brown eyes flashed into my head, piercing into me like tiny daggers. I clenched the wooden spoon tightly in my palm as I tried to push her fucking face out of my head. There was not enough hate in this world to describe her, but of course if I told myself that a year ago I would have laughed so hard my ribs would crack. I pushed it to the back of my mind before turning off the hob and pouring the milk into a mug which sat on the side. Growling at myself I dropped the pan back into the sink before sulking back off to bed.

Chelsea's P.O.V

After twisting and twirling with Sabrina floating around my brain and then Vaughn the next I gave up and decided I could get to work on my farm earlier, I mean I could always sleep in the day and it gives me an excuse to try and avoid Vaughn. It was 4:00Am, a full two hours before everyone was awake and the sun hadn't even started to rise yet but none the less, I pulled on my knee-length shorts, fugly yellow top and orange shirt and finally my red boots and bandana. Yes, Chelsea you like a picture. Rolling my eyes I pulled on my rucksack before yawning and leaving my dark house which suddenly seemed unwelcoming.

I bounded over to my field and stared at them, all of the turnips now pushing up through the ground and staring back at me. My grin widened, the last time I'd tried to grow something it was a little strawberry plant which wilted within two days but look at me now – turnips! I fell to my knees and prodded one of them, just to see if they were real. My finger touched the cool leaves, sending a shiver down my back and a smile over my face. Yep, you're pretty awesome Chelsea.

Smirking I placed my hands over the leaves covered in morning-dew and pulled hard. Next minute I was flat on my back with a dozen leaves scattered around me. Narrowing my eyes I rolled back up and stared at the little bugger in front of me.

"How do like being naked?" I smirked as the top part stared at me, almost daring me to try and get him out. I glared back before nudging forward and digging my fingers in the soil around it, pulling with every inch of strength I had. There was a slight squishing sound and the next thing I knew I was holding up soggy hands covered in turnip guts … damn. Looking down I saw Mr Dead Turnip looking back up at me, his insides now his outsides and his leaves wilting on the ground. Frowning, a wave of failure washed over me but was soon replaced by smugness.

"That's what you get for being difficult …" I smirked, quickly picking up his remains and dropping them in a pile behind my house, out of sight so no one knew of my murderous streak. I looked back at my crops and sighed, I'll have to get Taro's help with this after six … and my animals will still be asleep. Plan of early farming status …. Fail.

I folded my arms tightly across my chest before turning around and heading for the bridge; I guess I'll just go to the beach or summit. As I grew closer to the bridge I squinted through the dark, there was a silhouette standing at the end of my farm. Panic froze in my chest as I edged closer.

"Hello?" I called out; fiddling with my bag and gripping my fingers around the first thing my hand came in contact with … which so happened to be the milker. I quickly moved closer, calling out again to be met with silence. As my feet reached the bridge I squinted and caught a glimpse of thick silver hair which danced with the moonlight which was slowly disintegrating into dawn.

"Vaughn?" I called out, a little spooked when he didn't reply. He just stood there like some kind of zombie. Frowning I stepped onto the bridge and moved closer to him, gasping when I saw his bare chest and baggy black joggers. My eyes grazed across his chest before I shook my head and looked up into his eyes which were covered by his hair. I smirked quietly before placing my milker back into my bag before using both of my hands to push his hair away. His eyes were distant as he stared without really seeing anything. Frowning I clicked my fingers in front of his eyes but he still didn't respond. Was he … sleepwalking?

I stared at him for a moment before a loud laugh slipped through my lips, bless him. Big, tough anti-social cowboy who sleepwalks half naked.

"Vaughn…" I asked, prodding his stomach with my finger … still no reply. I mushed my lips together before thinking, how was I going to do this. I remember Dad walking a few times but that was usually when he was stressing about something. Suddenly a light bulb went off in my head and a grin spread across my face.

"What is your name?" I asked sternly, placing my cool hand onto his chest which caused him to get Goosebumps. Still no reply, he just kept staring off into the distance.

"What is your name?" I asked again, a little louder. A little technique I'd picked up, if I got him to relate to the real world and get him to think it would hopefully bring him round.

"…Vaughn…" He muttered slowly, his voice deeper than usual and a little horse. I smirked, that's right cowboy, play along. He then took a step backwards, his face scrunching up into a ball.

"No … I don't want you here …" He murmured, trying to back away from whatever he thought was in front of him. I frowned; he was backing towards the water's edge.

"Vaughn you need to stop, you're going to fall into the water" I said sternly, stepping forwards and grabbing his hand before yanking him forwards, his weight and height way too heavy compared to my little frame.

"…No…You did this to us Natalie …" He spoke clearly. I froze in the spot … Natalie. Half of me wanted to shake him and wake him up but the curious side of me, the bad me, wanted him to carry on. Was it bad to trick the guy you might have a crush on to tell you everything that was obviously a big deal? Yes, yes it was. The good me decided I had to wake him up, so I placed my hands on his arms and gently shook him.

"Vaughn wake up you stupid cowboy" I growled but he shook his head and stepped back again, causing me to tumble slightly as I regained my balance. I shut my eyes and took in a deep breath, wake the fuck up Vaughn. I looked back up at him, his eyes glistening slightly from the moonlight, wait was he crying? No … I bet I was just imagining it.

"…You didn't even tell me…" He carried on, his voice breaking even so slightly halfway through the sentence. I frowned before stepping forwards and gently stroking my hand over his chest as I looked up into his eyes.

"It's okay Vaughn" I smiled weakly at him but he continued to ramble to himself. I looked at him sympathetically, trying to bring him back around. A silent tear fell down his cheek and dripped onto my face gently.

"…It was my baby too …"

I froze in place, too shocked to move. Vaughn stopped talking; he just swayed gently on the spot. I stepped backwards to stare at him … what? It wasn't as if I could question him either, what the fuck was I supposed to do with that? I could hardly ignore it yet I couldn't acknowledge it either.

I looked back up at him, his eyes were slightly red and he was shivering from the cold morning air. I sighed before sliding my hand in his and pulling him back towards my house. He followed behind me, almost as if he was floating. When we got back to my house I flung open the door and lead Vaughn inside, almost automatically he walked over to my couch and sat down before sliding to the side and snoring gently. I smiled at him as I walked over to my bed and pulled off one of the blankets before gently placing it over Vaughn's body which had finally stopped shaking. Bending down I pushed back his hair and kissed his cheek delicately as I stroked his shoulder.

"It's all right now Vaughn … everything's going to be alright" I whispered gently as he continued to dream. Standing back up, I made my way back over to my double bed which seemed so inviting all of a sudden. Just as I was about to step in Vaughn mumbled quietly to himself.

"Chelsea…" He whispered before gently snoring again. I smiled to myself as I watched his chest rise and fall before climbing into bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out, I guess trying to get a sleepwalking cowboy to shut the fuck up really took it out of you.

**So big secrets are finally seeping out … too bad Chelsea can't say anything ;) Anyways I hope you enjoyed another chapter and thanks again for reading. Don't forget to review and stay tuned :D**

**P.S – Thank god for spellcheck **


	16. Antidote to the Poison

**Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter for you :D Thank you so much for all the reviews and for the one about my spelling of definitely ;) I am the worst speller in the world and rely mainly on autocorrect for help so thanks (I've fixed it because it used to automatically change it) :) Anyways, I hope you enjoy. Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters.**

Chapter 16 – One Last Dance

Chelsea's P.O.V

I busied myself in the kitchen, frantically pulling out pots and bowls before digging in the depths of my cupboards to bring out something even the slightest bit edible. There was a stir on my couch as a cowboy, with an extremely bad case of bed-hair, slowly came to his senses and stood up. I smirked slightly as he looked around the room in confusion. Slowly turning around, his eyes glanced to me then to his naked chest which, if I may add, looked very good. He ran a hand through his silvery hair before frowning and making his way over to me in the kitchen.

"What … I mean … why am I here?" He asked, a little disorientated. I smirked again before clutching a box of readily dried ready-break and placing it on the counter. Turning to him I prodded his chest playfully.

"You came round and barged my door down at the dead of night, then we had sex all night long …" I said innocently, a smirk playing on the edges of my mouth. He frowned again before eyeing me carefully, not sure what to make of my little story.

"…I was outside and you were sleepwalking." I laughed as his face softened and a smirk lit up his face. I reached forward and patted down his bed hair before turning back around and reading the packet carefully, never eaten porridge … what a fun experiment. Vaughn slowly moved beside me as his hand brushed delicately across my waist, causing my face to burn bright red. I coughed awkwardly as I poured the dried porridge into a bowl. Now if I wasn't mistaken … the porridge on the front looked nothing like the porridge in my bowl. I stood there, switching my gaze to the bowl and back to the packet, defiantly something missing. Flipping it over I squinted at the tiny writing – Just add water, seems simple enough. Smiling to myself I lifted up one of the bowls and ran it under the tap before placing it back down on the counter, feeling Vaughn staring at me from the other side of the kitchen … still didn't look like the one on the front, all of the oaty bits floated on top like a skin on custard. Vaughn chuckled quietly as he rolled his eyes and tapped the packet. Turning around I saw him pointing to the steam rising from the hot porridge. Narrowing my eyes I turned back to my porridge before sighing.

"You wanna go to Nicks?" I asked, abandoning the lovely looking porridge and walking over to Vaughn who stood leaning against the counter with his hands held back to support him. He looked down at himself before raising an eyebrow.

"You serious?" He asked, a smirk playing on his lips. I looked at his body before cocking my head to the side; damn that was one hell of a nice body. I guess I was meant to answer but I was too drawn in to his chest. He chuckled before taking a step closer and gently brushing his hand against my fringe which stuck out from under my red bandana. His eyes glazed over my face before stopping at my eyes where his deep amethyst ones stared into them. I felt my heart skip a beat, making me want to kick myself in stupidity. Stop getting yourself attached to stupid guys, they'll just let you down. I looked down at the ground before spinning on my heel and pouring the contains of the bowl into the bin. No matter how much I wanted to kiss that guy, something was holding me back.

I picked up a spoon and gently tapped it on the counter in an uneven rhythm. Taking in a sharp breath, my heart stopped beating when Vaughn gently placed his hand on top of mine to stop the tapping.

"Vaughn?" I asked, turning around and smiling to myself when my nose brushed across his chest. He looked down at me while raising that eyebrow again, sending my heart to do an annoying flutter.

"You … you sleep talk …" I murmured, feeling a little weak when he placed his other hand on top of my other hand so that his arms were at either side of me and his body gently pushed up against mine. He nodded as he looked down at me but froze when he placed his memory on something oblivious to me.

"What did I say?" He asked, his eyes suddenly turning edgy. I let out a little air, mentally arguing with myself if I should bring up the subject or not. In the end I gave up, not yet, I couldn't do it yet.

"You said my name …" I smiled, that part was true. He blushed slightly before I smirked and prodded his chest.

"Never knew you blushed Mr cowboy" I laughed as I ran my finger from his neck down to his stomach. He rolled his eyes before bending down to kiss the top of my head affectionately, causing my heart to skip a beat. He slowly moved his lips down my face, kissing my eyebrow, kissing my cheek and my nose before finally reaching my lips.

I smiled, kissing him back with more force as I gently ran my hands through his silver hair. He chuckled before taking his hands off mine and placing them on my legs when he effortlessly pulled me onto the counter. I wrapped my legs around his body as I continued to kiss him affectionately and passionately. He slowly moved his hand to the curve in my back to push me closer to him. I could feel his heart beat alongside mine, the gentle rhythm sending butterfly's through my stomach. His hands moved lower till they played at the hem of my denim shorts. I pulled away to take a breath before placing my hands on his and moving them away.

"Not today" I murmured quietly as he kissed my neck passionately. He nodded before smiling at me, trying to hide his slight blush under his long fringe. I smirked before leaning forward, kissing his head and pulling him into a tight hug.

"Now, I don't suppose you know how to make porridge do you?" I asked, staring back down at the empty bowls. He rolled his eyes before pulling me back off the counter and ruffling my hair playfully.

"Lucky for you I do" He smirked as he flipped on the kettle and poured some of the oats into the bowls. I smiled at him before bounding over to the table and taking a seat in one of the hard wooden chairs while Vaughn dealt with breakfast.

* * *

Staring down at the bowl I stirred the lumpy mixture around with my spoon before looking up at Vaughn who seemed to be enjoying the mush. Taking a deep breath I pulled a spoonful up to my mouth and swallowed it. Now two words popped into my head as it slid down my throat – vomit and shit. It tasted like newspaper, and it bloody looked like newspaper. Plastering on a smile I placed the spoon down in my bowl before looking back up at Vaughn who was trying his hardest not to laugh at my reaction.

"It takes a little getting used to" He chucked as he swallowed another spoonful of porridge. I looked back down at my bowl; I don't think I could ever get used to this.

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just that … no I just don't like it" I mumbled before leaning back in my chair and thinking about dinner, maybe I'll have pizza. Vaughn smirked as he finished off the rest of his porridge in just a few spoonfuls while I stared at him in disgust. Then a light bulb flicked on in my head and I looked at Vaughn in slight panic.

"Crap, won't Mirabelle and Julia be worried where you are?" I asked, looking over at the clock – of course they will be awake by now. Vaughn's eyes flicked over to the clock before he sighed and got up, taking both of our bowls to the sink and dropping them in. I frowned, got up and followed him – eyeing him carefully.

"Do you … do this often?" I asked, a little wary of his reaction. He paused as his eyes flicked up from the sink to mine, staring at me with such intensity before returning to the sink and sighing, still not uttering a single word. I take that as a yes.

He carefully cleaned both of the dishes before placing them on the drying rack and spinning around to look at me, his purple eyes dancing across my face.

"Come on cowboy" I smirked, stretching out my hand and pulling it into mine. I could tell he didn't want to face either of them but I knew if I didn't return him Julia would go crazy mad on my ass for worrying her. He looked at me and for a slit second a different emotion flashed across his eyes, something I couldn't quite match to something. I opened the door with my free hand and felt the warm spring air fall onto my face. As we stepped outside I quietly closed the door before smiling at Vaughn.

"Brace yourself" I winked as we headed back towards Mirabelle's. So my plan to avoid him went out of the window and somewhere, a little part of me was happy about that. When we approached the bridge I took a deep breath but before I stood on it, Vaughn picked me up and carried me across. At the other end he delicately placed me back on the ground and I felt my face burn red, how pathetic did I seem right now?

Natalie's P.O.V

There was a familiar chuckle from outside which sent so many unwanted emotions flowing through my head. Bastard. I moved to the window and peaked outside to glare at the wanker but my heart froze in my chest as I saw him holding Chelsea who was clutching onto him for dear life. I watched them carefully as he put her down and took hold of her hand again, protectively watching her.

My eyes grazed over his chest which was vulnerable. How the fuck could he just forget so quickly? Angrily I turned away and stormed away, knocking over my gay brother at the same time. I. Fucking. Hate. That. Bastard.

Chelsea's P.O.V

I placed my hand on the warm wooden door before squeezing Vaughn's hand tightly and opening the door. Mirabelle quickly whizzed past in a flurry of colours as Julia stood in the corner, frantically barking down the phone. Vaughn tensed up behind me as I slowly lead him into the room.

"Mirabelle?" I half yelled over the noise the both of them were making. They both paused as their eyes darted to Vaughn who stood sheepishly behind me, a hand scratching the back of his head. Julia suddenly dropped the phone she was holding and bounded over to us where she pulled Vaughn into a hug. Mirabelle was slightly teary as she turned to me and smiled.

"Where was he?" She asked as Vaughn successfully managed to wedge Julia off of him. I turned to Vaughn and swallowed hard.

"He was just on the bridge going up to my farm … sleepwalking" I mumbled quietly. There was a deathly silence as Julia and Mirabelle switched glances to one another, having a whole conversation through their eyes. I awkwardly switched my weight to the other foot as the atmosphere in the room shot up sky high. I turned to Vaughn and looked into his eyes before squeezing his hand.

"I need to get back to the farm" I whispered quietly as his eyes grazed over mine. He nodded slowly as I let go of his hand and began walking to the door. But before I could leave he grabbed my hand and spun me around to face him. He gently pressed his lips on my forehead before inhaling the scent of my hair. I smiled to myself before stepping backwards and walking out of the door, glancing at Vaughn before the door swung shut.

I took in a deep breath of air and smiled again, my heart annoyingly fluttering in my chest. I closed my eyes as the sun beat down on my skin, leaving a warm imprint as it went. Suddenly a hand landed on my shoulder, sending my eyes to open stark wide. Stood in front of me was Natalie who had a funny expression on her face. I smiled at her warmly before straightening my back.

"Hey Natalie what do you need?" I asked, cocking my head to the side slightly to look at her. Her eyes glanced up to mine before back at the ground again. Something was obviously playing on her mind and she was deciding whether or not to come out with it.

"I thought you'd need some help with your turnips" She smiled weakly as her brown eyes found mine. Thank god for that, no more deaths will be squished on my hands any longer.

"Please" I smiled, happy for the help and company. Maybe she'd help keep my mind off Vaughn for the time being.

Vaughn's P.O.V

I turned back around to face Mirabelle and Julia who stared at each other in worry. I hated this. I hated people caring and worrying. It left a sour taste in my mouth.

"I thought you were over this, it's been weeks since your last" Julia frowned, folding her arms across her chest.

"It's not like I can help it" I growled at her. Julia narrowed her eyes before sighing and throwing her arms up into the air. Mirabelle calmly placed her hand on her daughter to ease her.

"Vaughn she found you on a fucking bridge. What if you fell in, we'd never have seen you again" She said raising her voice, glaring at me with her light blue eyes. Mirabelle glared at her.

"Julia I don't want you using that kind of language in front of me. Vaughn can't help it" She spoke sternly, Julia mumbling under her breath. It wasn't like Julia to be the angry one; she was always full of optimism and kindness.

"If he went to the doctor like I said it could have stopped" She shot back, being completely unfair to Mirabelle who was just trying to calm her down. A pang of guilt rushed through me, Mirabelle and Julia hardly ever fought and when they did, it was over me.

"Stop" I grumbled, facing both of them with my hands clenched. Julia sighed before frustratingly messing up her fringe.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt … or worse" She mumbled, her voice braking halfway through the sentence like a punch in my stomach. Mirabelle smiled weakly as she stroked Julia's arm in comfort.

"No one does hun but we can't blame Vaughn for this" She smiled warmly, glancing up at me in sympathy, the worst emotion of all – sympathy. I would rather slam my head in a car door till my head exploded than have people feel sorry for me.

"I know, I know. It's that bitch Natalie's fault" Julia spat, her hands shaking in anger. Mirabelle shot her a look as my last straw snapped. I stormed away, past Julia – barging her out of the way in the process – and towards my room where I slammed my door shut and locked it. I took in a deep breath as I slid down the door, my head in my hands.

If no one mentioned it, it wasn't true. If no one mentioned it, it wasn't true. A silent tear ran down my cheek as I brushed it away in frustration. Men don't cry. Fucking emotions. I thought back to Chelsea and a wave of calmness swept over me. My head snapped up in realisation. Natalie was the poison, Chelsea was the antidote.

**Dun, dun, dunnn. Natalie is obviously up to something but what? Mysteries ;) So I hoped you liked this chapter and please pop in a comment of what you think of it. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next update, byee ;) **


	17. Genoside

**Hey guys and gals. Sorry for the long wait I've been ill lately and not had the chance to write anything but here's the next chapter anyways. I hope you enjoy and don't forget to review and tell me what you think, thanks – I couldn't carry on without your amazing support :D Disclaimer- I do not own Harvest Moon or nay of its characters.**

Chapter 17 – Chelsea's P.O.V

Me and Natalie walked onto my farm in silence. My mind thought back to Vaughn and his midnight mumbles and then my eyes darted over to Natalie who seemed to be fixated on something. I managed to cross the bridge without any major facial movements that would give me away; personally I think it's a huge step from when I was crawling over. I smiled at myself in pride until my eyes fell back upon the turnips that all sat staring at me smugly. I narrowed my eyes at them, bitches going down.

"I'm guessing Taro taught you how to harvest them properly?" Natalie asked as she effortlessly bent down and whipped one up off the ground. I stared at her in amazement before flicking my gaze over to the dead one that was rotting behind me house. Smiling weakly down at her I shrugged my shoulders. She mumbled something under her breath before sighing and yanking my hand down so that I knelt beside her.

"Just wrap your hand like this and pull" She spoke clearly as another one popped out of the ground with ease. I nodded, grip and pull – easy. I smiled at the turnip in front of me as I placed my hands on its cool body, grip. Then I pulled and fell backwards, the turnip carefully resting in my hands. I smiled before mentally patting myself on the back, good effort Chelsea. Natalie rolled her eyes sarcastically before pulling another one.

"You go do those ones" She ordered, pointing to the patch two rows away. Nodding I did as I was told, not wanting to agitate her in case I did want to bring a certain topic up.

A solid half an hour went by as we continued to pull the frickin' turnips out of the ground, one by one. I swear I was going to build a machine to do this for me … or just get Mark to do it. I smirked to myself; I could even pay him to be my bitch for the day. I turned around and placed a turnip on my pile before noticing that Natalie was staring at me intently. I couldn't decide whether or not it was hostile or not but I adverted my gaze to the ground anyway. I was just about to turn back around but something stopped me, maybe it was my sub-conscious I don't know.

"Natalie …" I began, looking up into her eyes as she continued to stare at me. She nodded slowly, motioning for me to go on. I froze, what was I planning on saying? Here I was, Natalie staring at me like I was a deformed creature as I sat stuttering, thinking of conversation starters. Finally I managed to shake my head before shrugging.

"So what do you think of Julia and your brother?" I asked, my voice a little pitchy towards the end of the question. She paused for a moment before sniggering and resting her palms onto the cool hard ground.

"I think Julia is a frickin' nut job who's lost a few brain cells. It might be due to the fact she slaps all of that crap on her face thought" She pulled a face before yawning loudly. I nodded, a little taken aback from her rudeness. Julia was a good friend of mine but I guess Natalie had a problem with her … or more with Vaughn and Julia was just collateral damage.

Natalie stared at me for a moment before taking in a deep breath and fiddling with the turnip that sat in front of her.

"Chelsea …" She murmured. I paused, my heart stopping as I plastered on my best smile to look at her. She cocked her head to the side as she looked at me. "On the day you washed up on the beach … you were wearing a bracelet …" She paused again before scratching her cheek. I frowned, a bracelet – big deal, I could honestly say I had no idea where she was going with this. She nodded to herself before looking up and staring directly into my eyes.

"It had the letter on – C, D. What do they stand for?" She asked. I frowned, I hadn't worn that bracelet since I got this house which was weeks ago, why did she cling to that memory. I shrugged before smiling.

"Well it's my initials isn't it?" I replied before turning back to the turnip and giving it a good yank.

"But they're not your initials …" She spoke clearly and confidently. I frowned again, turning around to look at her, the turnip carefully in my hands. I stared at her, yes they were.

"Shouldn't it be an 'M'?" She asked, cocking her head to the side again as she surveyed my every emotion. I shook my head before smiling at her then I felt like I had a kick in the gut. Shit. Spending twenty five years being called Chelsea Dawson made me forget I changed my fucking name to Miles. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"N-no … I mean yes. My name is actually double barrelled you see … yeah it's Chelsea … Chelsea-Danielle." The words stumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them and so I replaced the gormless look on my face with a smile which most likely looked like I was in pain. Maybe I was, I couldn't tell. All I could feel was the burning sensation starting in my stomach.

"Chelsea-Danielle?" Natalie asked, an eyebrow rising so far off her head I thought it merged with her hairline. I nodded before turning back around and pulling a face at myself. What the fuck, Chelsea-Danielle? Someone call doctor bullshit.

Natalie fell deadly quiet after that. Pulling up turnips and placing them in the woven basket without a word. All the time I scolded myself for being so frickin' stupid. After finishing the job I stood up and smiled proudly at my freshly picked field and the baskets of overflowing turnips. Natalie helped me lug them all to the shipping bin where we both just dropped them inside. I turned back to her and smiled.

"Thank you so much Natalie, without your help I don't know what I would have done" I smiled warmly and a thin layer of blush flushed her cheeks. She nodded before motioning towards my house.

"I know. There could have been a turnip genocide" She smirked. I narrowed my eyes, damn she'd found the remains – next time I need to invest in a hiding place for my previous victims. I looked down at my shorts and quickly dusted myself off before stretching my back till it clicked.

"Chelsea can I ask you something?" Natalie suddenly asked, snapping me out of my little daze. I nodded encouragingly before flashing her a warm smile.

"I think you should stay away from Vaughn …" She mumbled quietly. I stared at her in utter bewilderment, what? She looked up at me and stared me dead in the eye, not flinching when I didn't tear my gaze away.

"Why?" I asked, a little taken aback by her order. She obviously didn't know me at all, tell me to do something – I was most likely to do the opposite. She paused for a minute before switching her weight onto her other foot.

"Because he's not what he appears to be" She murmured, her eyes dragging themselves over my face before resting on the ground again.

"And what does he appear to be?" I asked, crossing my arms tightly across my chest in frustration. It took me all of my strength to keep from biting the inside of my mouth. Natalie didn't flinch from my glare again; she stared right through me, something else clearly playing on her mind.

"The victim …" She muttered, almost inaudible but I caught it. This time I couldn't help it, anger bubbled in the pit of my stomach and threatened to burst through my clenched teeth like a fiery dragon. I attempted to swallow it down but it had already engulfed my throat and was screeching to be unleashed.

"What's all this about a baby?" I asked boldly, watching her left eye twitch for half a second but I saw it. Her eyes turned red before me as she stood tall and attempted to make me feel threatened.

"What did _he _tell you?" She seethed through clenched teeth; her expression closely resembling a wild cat who had just had its owner tread on its tail. I smirked, now I'd hit a nerve.

"_Vaughn_ didn't tell me anything" I spoke clearly, emphasising his name to prove to her that I wasn't afraid of her. Her eyes darted to the town before returning to me.

"Julia then …" She mumbled but I shook my head, confusing her even more. I unfolded my hand before lazily sweeping the hair out of my face.

"Does it matter how I know, for all you care about I could be fudging psychic" I replied, feeling slightly stupid about replacing swearwords with foods. I was only doing it for Mark who commented on my bad language a few days before. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at me through her long thick eyelashes which I, hating to admit it, was slightly jealous of.

"I might not care _how_ you know but I care about how _much_ of the truth you actually know" Her words sounded like poison darts to my ear but I continued the staring contest with her, refusing to be the first to look away.

"And what is the truth?" I asked, keeping my hands securely at the sides and clenched up, somehow I don't think I wanted to know the truth but it compelled me to understand Vaughn further.

"Not here" Natalie broke the stare we held before looking over to my house. Without another words I let out a microscopic sigh before turning around and staring for my little cottage.

When we got inside I turned back to Natalie and glared at her as she took a seat at the wooden dinner table in the centre of the rectangular room. I followed before taking the seat directly opposite her and resting my elbows on the wooden surface. Natalie sighed deeply before eyeing me carefully, judging my reactions closely.

"So …" I muttered quietly, waiting for her response. Her eyes flicked up from the table as she stared at me in muted fury.

"Me and Vaughn used to date …" She mumbled quietly, I held back a gasp. I had a feeling that was the case but to hear it out loud was like a slap in the face. I nodded understandingly, egging her to continue with the story.

"For two years, then I fell pregnant - it wasn't planned but I didn't want anyone to know … because I was afraid" She continued, keeping her voice low and just about audible. I nodded, feeling a little lightheaded and nauseas from the bombardment of information I'd been trying to figure out.

"So you didn't tell Vaughn?" I asked, swallowing down the unpleasant feelings. She frowned deeply before shaking her head at me.

"No, no you see I _did _tell him …" She paused before running a shaking hand through her pink hair and avoiding my gaze. "He didn't take it well. He started swearing and shaking violently, we were out in the forest – away from everyone else. He hit me …" She pulled back her sleeve and gently stroked a faded scar on her left arm.

"I fell and hit a rock, losing the baby and well. After that he wasn't the same. His temper shot through the roof and it seemed that anything I did set him off and in the end we split … no one speaks of what happens now. We're a tightly packed family here on this island and when something like this happens we try to heal and move forward. Chelsea you can't ever speak to anyone about this, we tried to keep it quiet …" She finished, leaving the room with a heavy silence which knocked the air out of my lungs. I sat silently, gasping at the air like a fish on dry land, trying to wrap my head around her words that burnt my skin.

"But Vaughn …" I began but I couldn't finish. I didn't trust my own judgement anymore, was she lying to turn me against him? Or was she sincere and Vaughn was sheltering his emotions like he always did. How much did I actually know about this cowboy? I thought to myself, trying to comprehend all the information that streamed through my head but I felt like a minor panning for gold.

"As I said" She spat at the sound of his name "How well do you really know someone before you see the real side of them?"

I paused, frozen in my chair as Natalie carefully rose. I watched her head towards the door and swiftly open it before she turned back to face me.

"I'm just trying to help you Chelsea" She murmured quietly before leaving, sending a draft of cool air into the room which sent shivers up my spine. My eyes darted to the couch where Vaughn slept the previous night. How well _did_ I know him?

Narrator's P.O.V

Natalie left the farm with a smirk painted broadly across her face as she imagined Chelsea sitting at the table staring blankly at the wall as she tried to wrap her head around the worlds. The skin around her mouth was tightly stretched across her cheeks which made her appear as if she was leering at the thought of Chelsea. Without a hint of emotion Natalie crossed the bridge in to town as she headed back to her house where Elliot was frantically waiting for her to return.

**So what do you think? Hehe, I hoped you like it and thanks for all the favourites ;) You guys rock :D Stick around for the next update but I'm sorry if it's a while because I've got quite a lot of things to do in the next few weeks, ciao. **


	18. Ghetto De Vaughn

**Yes, I'm back – didn't die or anything *your relief pleases me* ;) Yeah, so sorry for the long update, had such a hectic time recently looking into colleges and the pressure from my teachers and whatnot. Thank you so much for sticking with the story and I will apologise in advance for any further delays in updates as I have a few busy months ahead. Also I had a birthday – happy birthday to me – not anyone cares and so I will now stop rambling and present you with Chelsea and Vaughn: enjoiy. Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters.**

Chapter 18 – One Last Dance

Chelsea's P.O.V

I stared down at the table, unknowingly tapping my fingers in an agitated rhythm as Natalie's words seared my skin like a branding iron. _He hit me; it was _his_ fault I lost the baby._ I felt silent tears well up behind my eyes but these were tears of anger, how could I have been so stupid? There was a sudden knock on the door, causing me to shit a brick in my chair and snapping me out of my little daze. Numbly I got up and opened it, my eyes falling onto Mark who stood in front of me with a bottle of fizzy apple cider under one arm while the other held a bag filled with shopping.

"Since I released that you have no intention in buying any _real _food I did it for you" He smiled before pushing past me and dumping the bag onto the kitchen counter where he began unpacking all the food. My stomach growled, the taste of porridge still lingering in my mouth. Hungrily, my eyes grazed over the tins and fresh ingredients before falling onto a four pack set of chocolate mousse that made my tongue cry out for the creamy texture. As if automatically I walked over to the table and snapped off a pot before tearing off the lid as if I was a starving child. Bringing the tub up to my lips I quickly swallowed a mouthful, who needed spoons when you had a tongue? The smooth taste immediately washed away all traces of the sickly newspaper taste, happily numbing part of my brain as Mark popped the lid of the apple cider.

"Celebrating?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I leant back on the table to look at him. Shrugging he poured out two glasses as his bleach blond hair tumbled into his emerald eyes.

"Yeah - sure … we're celebrating … we're celebrating the fact that I managed to get hold of apple cider in Spring," He chuckled before scooping up both glasses and outstretching one towards me. I took it gladly before clinking it against his and downing it in one big gulp. Chocolate and apple cider – strange combination but somehow it worked, creating a burst of flavours that danced on my tongue. I placed the empty glass back onto the table, an audible 'clunk' as I perhaps put a little too much pressure into the movement. Mark paused as his eyes searched my face from behind his glass, piercing me with invisible questions.

"Something's up" He finally spoke, placing the glass down next to mine before jumping to my side, finding my eyes with his. I groaned quietly under my breath, no not now – I wasn't bringing this up now I had to think.

"Nothing's up" I replied quietly, not sounding very convincing but too spaced out in my own world to really pay too much attention to what my face did. Mark snorted, fidgeting with his fringe that was overdue a haircut as he drank in the little emotion that rolled off my face. Inside I was numb, where I found the energy to force a smile on my face puzzled me.

"Oh god don't do that" Mark gasped in a mocking tone as he flinched away playfully as if in pain. I shot him a glare before a genuine smirk ran across my lips, pulling up the corners of my mouth. No matter what mood I was in Mark always could clear away the clouds, in his weird little way. He peeked out from behind his fingers to look at me and wiped away the sweat from his brow in fake relief.

"Oh good that's the Chelsea I know, never do that again it makes you look weird" He chuckled, prodding my nose before snorting again. I crossed my arms and frowned, my hazel coloured hair tickling my jaw but laziness overpowered my will to physically move my hand and scratch it.

"What? Smiling?" I asked a little harsher than I intended, too many things flying round my mind to allow me to change the tone of my voice.

"Fake smiling." He replied matter-of-factly "Looks like you're snarling"

I growled before shaking my head and taking in a sharp breath, the warm air penetrating my lung's capacity. Maybe, if I was lucky, they would burst and I'd wake up from this dream and be filled with the sense of relief. But it never came, and the air rushed out of my lungs as easily as it had entered.

"Whatever, you wanna watch a movie?" I asked, feeling tired from thinking too hard - downing a bottle of apple cider with another few pots of chocolate mousse sounder good right about now. Mark hesitated for a moment before nodding and grabbing the tall glass bottle from the table as I clutched at the mousse as if it was the only lifeline in the vast storm-ridden ocean.

"Only if you give Mama Mia another chance"

"There is no way in hell I would watch that shit again" I growled, diving for the remote and kicking off my boots – sending the pots of mousse flying to the ground - a reasonable sacrifice I thought to myself as I flicked on the T.V and scrolling down till I reached Netflix.

"Fine, what does '_princess_' want to watch?" He asked in a fake mocking tone as he took a seat next to me, pulling the cream coloured blanket on top of us both and tucking us in. I rested my head on his shoulder before shrugging and flicking through the movies at a pace impossible to keep up with. I didn't really care what we watched as long as it wasn't a musical or too depressing.

"How about Jackass?" I asked, not bothering to watch Mark pull his face at the idea.

"I don't see how a girl can watch the same movie over and over again and knowing exactly what's going to happen but still laugh until she gets hiccups …" He mumbled quietly, rolling his eyes as he did. I chuckled to myself, remembering him gagging when it was time for the sweat drink.

"What about Eden of the East?" I asked, smiling as one of my favourite anime's flicked onto the screen. Mark shrugged but nodded none-the-less, reading the summary before reaching out for the apple cider he'd set down on the floor by his feet.

"Or we could always watch teeth again?" I asked with a smirk, momentarily flicking onto the next movie in my 'viewed' list. We'd only managed to watch the first ten minutes before it got too weird for liking. The summary was the thing that caught out attention –

'_When a virtuous high school student is sexually assaulted, she discovers that she has an unexpected line of defence: a toothed vagina. But coming to terms with her anatomical anomaly may be easier said than done.'_

And no more was said of it. Mark shivered slightly before reaching over and clicking on 'Eden of the East'.

"I'd rather watch naked Takizawa than that again, if I wasn't already gay I think I know what would have turned me" He said, the end of his sentence slightly muffled as the movie flashed up on the screen. I smiled to myself, not matter what the situation was, Mark was always there for me - like a gay big brother I never had.

Vaughn's P.O.V

I lay in bed, counting the multiple holes in the ceiling. I'd always wondered how many there were, of course I was too god damn lazy to sit there and count them all so I guessed, nine thousand, eight hundred and ninety-two. Groaning slightly I sat up, my bare chest still visible for the worlds to see. I guess I was just hoping that there would be a raid on the island and they'd go for the half-naked guy first, end his misery. But no such luck hit me, instead the stupid décor of my room bored me half to death. Everything was black. Not that I minded but it gave the room an eerie feel like it wasn't lived in. Well I guess five out of seven days it wasn't, leaving the dust to coagulate on the surface of the windowsill and the untouched books half-read on the bookshelf above my head. I looked up, watching the tiny particles of dust swirl in the sunlight as the warm glow softly pricked my pale skin. I guess I preferred to stare into space and count unimportant things than stay too long dawning on my own thoughts, it wasn't a pretty place in there. It was if a derelict ghetto was about to be bombed and if it did, then shit would hit the fan. The tension of the air, knowing that the bomb was drawing closer and closer to the ground – how my brain felt.

I rolled over, pulling the midnight black shirt draped over the chair over my shoulders and buttoning it up to my neck. My black jeans were thrown into a pile in the corner of my room along with my hat, which I'd finally retrieved back of Julia, and my beige waistcoat. After throwing them on with little enthusiasm I walked back to my chest of drawers where the photo sat of me and my mother. There was a slight tap at the door, causing me to turn around slowly.

"Vaughn?" A quiet voice asked. I groaned under my breath, annoyance rushing through me as Julia's irritating tone pierced the air like a knife.

"Vaughn please, I need to talk to you" She mumbled again, her voice lost by the thickness of the wooden door. Her whining was the single worse noise anyone could ever encounter. I grumbled quietly, much like a grumpy old man, before opening the door where Julia almost fell inside. I prodded her shoulder to steady her as I stepped aside, not uttering a single word to her. She closed the door behind her before walking over to my chair and taking a seat in it, her light blue eyes shining in the reflection of the sun.

"I'm sorry for what I said before – about Natalie. I mean, it's okay if you still have feelings for her but I guess…"

"Julia. Any feelings I had for that women have long passed, she is dead to me" I cut her off, my words sounding dead yet still stung – just the way I liked it. I thought of it as quite an accomplished talent of mine, warding people off. It's the only thing I _could _do without screwing it up.

"I'm not going to yell if you do" She replied, a little defeated in her tone. I closed my eyes and sighed, cooling down my temper. I hated shouting at Julia, even when she was being a complete bitch to me – it felt as wrong as laying a finger on a lady.

"After everything that's happened, do you think I'd still hold feeling for someone who was so spiteful and deceitful? Do you really think that little of me?" I asked, eyeing Julia carefully – still allowing no emotion to run through my words. She shook her head slowly, a weak smile toying on her lips.

"I guess not. But you can't keep things bottled up like you do, it'll kill you and I don't want to watch someone, who's the closest thing I have to a brother, suffer like that. When I woke up and you weren't in bed I thought you'd killed yourself or Natalie had coerced you into some deluded plan … Vaughn I love you, Mum loves you. We don't want you to see you do this to yourself because it wasn't your fault"

I paused for a moment, trying to contemplate her words but they flew over my head. Guilt washed through me, the exact reason I didn't get involved with anyone or anything – I always fucked things up. With mum, with relationships and with my own cousin and her mum who had kindly taken me in.

"I'm getting there" I replied. Three simple words to sum up the ghetto about to be bombed, the mundane atmosphere it held and the eerie silence that swept its streets. Yes, I may have been lying through my teeth but a pair of recurring deep sapphire eyes kept flashing into my head momentarily, my cure. Maybe, just maybe, if I could forget. Forget the past two years – scrap that – forget the past 15 years of my life, before mum became ill, before dad left me and before I even met Julia or Mirabelle, maybe then and only then – would I be 'getting there'.

Chelsea's P.O.V

The end credits rolled as I stretched out for the bottle of apple cider. Bringing it up to my lips I felt the last drop hit my tongue before shaking it violently. All gone, damn. Flicking the off button I stretched out, purposely hitting Mark in the face as I did before jumping off the sofa and spinning around.

"What do you wanna do now?" I asked, scanning my room for something fun but coming up empty. All the food was packed away and I defiantly didn't have any games here so I guess it was up to Mark.

"Well I guess we could go to Mushroom Island?" He asked, yawning at the same time so it sounded like 'ehh-eh-guhh-coulg-goot-jushkoom-illand'. I raised an eyebrow and cocked my head, placing my hands on my waist and smiled, much like a paedo would do.

"Oh aye and why do you want to go there?" I asked, my tone dripping with sarcasm as he flinched back in horror. "Wouldn't have something to do with a Mr Shea Akwatia would it now?"

"Well Miss Dawson, I think the correct terminology would be Mr 'faf' and no, I actually enjoy pole dancing against the unnaturally large mushroom stems" He rolled his eyes as he stood up and walked over to the front door. I frowned but followed him closely behind.

"Faf?" I asked, maybe a little too naïve but I didn't care much. The fact that Mark had the hots for Shea was more than enough knowledge for one day. He span around on his heels to smile at me with his pristine white teeth – and he says he doesn't whiten them – I call his bullshit.

"Fit. As. Fuck" He winked before opening the door wide and allowing a gust of late Spring air hit me in the face. If I wasn't scarred from anything in my past then I surely was now.

**Ahh everyone loves Mark :3 Now I have finally made the time to update I hope you all enjoyed it, thanks for all the follows and favourites I've had in the meantime and if you want - review, if you don't - don't :P Thanks for all the support and I will try and get back to you guys as soon as I can – au revoir. **


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